


i'll cry when the bruises fade

by ifeelpersonallyattacked



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Begging, Car Sex, Crying, Dorks in Love, Falling In Love, Fights, First Love, First Time, Galaxy Garrison, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Kinda?, M/M, Minor Keith/Lance (Voltron), Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Organized Crime, Pining Shiro (Voltron), REALLY BIG MISTAKEN IDENTITY, Reunion Sex, Riding, Serious, Shiro has a big dick, Sloppy Makeouts, Sorta kinda, Threats of Violence, Wall Sex, adam and shiro are both horny, adam and shiro have A Talk, adam is real sick of this shit, adam is such a mom to keith omg, adam is thirsty for it, adam pines big time too but he Represses It, adam works at a jewellery store, basically shiro is a crime boss and adam doesn't know and then all sorts of trouble happens, honestly it sorta reminds me of romeo and juliet, i promise nothing actually happens though, its a high school, kerberos mission parallels, mafia, mafia Shiro, shiro asks for consent because consent is key fellas, shiro has a scary reputation but he's just dumb and gay and pining for adam, sorta - Freeform, stupid gays in love, texas kogane's name is literally texas kogane because i'm unoriginal, the dads are sorta assholes in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-01 18:58:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19183747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifeelpersonallyattacked/pseuds/ifeelpersonallyattacked
Summary: Adam thought that his heart had been hardened for good. The love of of his life had abandoned him when he needed him most and every day, there were new reports of crimes committed by the Lions, the most dangerous gang in the city of Garrison. They were led by the Black Lion, Takashi Shirogane, a criminal with a heart that was surely just as hardened as Adam's was.But through curious happenstances, Adam discovers that the line between his lost love and the mysterious Black Lion might not be as clear-cut as he had once thought.





	1. the present

**Author's Note:**

> hey doods
> 
> this took me a reeeeeeeally long time to write but it's finally done! so proud of it honestly
> 
> there's not enough adashi out there so i guess i have to do everything myself
> 
> shoutouts to @denlusional and @a_greekdemigod on twitter for giving me ideas and encouraging me on this! i really hope you guys like this!
> 
> note: in my own hc of adam, he's half brazilian on his father's side(hence why he calls his father "papai"; it's portuguese for father), and a quarter french and a quarter indian on his mother's side(i think his mother was raised in canada, hence why adam refers to her as maman, which is french for mother)
> 
> please enjoy and leave comments so i know if you liked it!! they inspire me to write

“ _...new reports just emerging tell of a drug deal gone wrong that escalated into a massacre of four people…” _

 

_ “...several eyewitnesses have confirmed another robbery has taken place at Garrett’s Deli on Earth Street…” _

 

_ “...officers report that crime level has gone up by 34% this year, the highest spike since 1948....this is due, they have told Garrison Eyewitness News, to the initiation of the new leader of the Lions, the organized criminal syndicate that has controlled the streets of Garrison since the 1890s…” _

 

_ “...dozens of new initiations to the Lions in the past year, only God knows where they’re getting them…”  _

 

_ “...Takashi Shirogane, also known as the ‘Black Lion’, as the new leader of the Lions, is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Do not approach him and call 911 to report any sightings…” _

 

Adam hurriedly shut off the small TV on the store counter, trying not to cringe at the onslaught of bad news. It seemed like it was getting worse every year, and to be honest, it probably was. He remembered crime when he was a child, but it was never as bad as this.

 

Garrison was a city plagued by many types of crime, ranging from petty theft to assault and murder. There was never a day that went by without something else happening, another store being robbed, another informant being shot in the head, another person being brutally beaten and barely living to tell the tale. The police force was overworking themselves to the bone every single day trying to stop it all, but it barely made a dent in the amount of illegal happenings going on every day. It had gotten to the point where mothers didn’t let their children out by themselves at all and half of most everyone’s salary went to upgrading their security for their homes and stores. Even Adam’s boss, a surly old man called Iverson, had invested most of his store profits in security for his store, Iverson’s Jewellery. As a rather high-end store, it was too big of a target to not lock it up as best he could. 

 

_ And it’s all thanks,  _ Adam thought bitterly as he polished a large diamond ring,  _ to the Lions.  _

 

The Lions were a highly-organized criminal syndicate that ran the city of Garrison. Most every crime that was committed was committed by one of their members(the official estimate was five thousand, but anyone who had half a brain knew it was much, much higher than that). There wasn’t one person in the city of Garrison that hadn’t been affected some way or another by the Lions. Adam’s own father had lost vision in his right eye due to an explosion caused by the Lions at the warehouse he worked at. 

 

To sum it up, the Lions were not to be messed with. They were a powerful figure in the underground crime community and even the most plebic of human beings knew not to mess with them, lest you end up with a bullet in your head. 

 

“Wright!” 

 

A loud, gruff-sounding voice snapped Adam out of his thoughts. Good thing too, otherwise he surely would’ve gotten himself furious and let his work suffer. “Yes, Mr. Iverson?”

 

Mr. Iverson was currently coming out of the back storeroom, carrying a large box in his hands. Adam made no move to help him; he knew well enough that Iverson could do it completely on his own and that he sneered at the thought of help. He waited patiently until his boss had set the box on the counter, stepping for a few seconds to catch his breath. “Just got a new shipment,” he announced proudly once he had caught his second wind, patting the box as if it were a dog, “We’re sure to attract the Robertson boy’s eye with one of these. Say-” he cut himself off, narrowing his eyes, “Wasn’t his appointment supposed to start ten minutes ago?”

 

Adam stiffened. He had been hoping to avoid this topic, as it never did end well for him. “Er--Mr. Robertson has canceled his appointment.”

 

Iverson stopped dead and looked straight at Adam quite fiercely. If looks could kill, he would’ve been dead yesterday. “ _ What do you mean he “canceled his appointment”?  _ That boy was supposed to pay my mortgage for the next year! What in the seven hells made him change his mind?!” Iverson was shouting by now, raising his fists in the air and shaking with rage. 

 

Adam took a step back and held his hands up. “He called this morning...said that he didn’t want his fiancee living in Garrison...said he was gonna move them out to Arus or Olkarion and buy a ring there instead.” Upon seeing the look on his boss’s face, Adam desperately tried to remedy it, “I’m so sorry, sir, I tried to get him to change his mind. We still have the appointment for the appraisal of Mrs. Harold’s emerald ring tomorrow, so--” He clamped his mouth shut with a wave of Iverson’s hand. 

 

“Yeah, I should’ve known.” Iverson said wearily, slumping down to rest his elbows on the jewellery counter, “Damn those fucking Lions! I’m just barely struggling to stay afloat as it is, with all these security upgrades I need to get on the storefront and now they’re scaring my customers away. Gives me half a mind to go back to the police force, they’ve done nothing but fuck everything up since I left.” He looked back at Adam, his eyes softening once he saw Adam’s overly straight posture. “Sorry,” he chuckled humorlessly, “I got carried away again. Say, do we have any more appointments today?”

 

Relaxing a bit, Adam shook his head. Iverson often voiced his many frustrations with the Lions, but he never knew what to say during those situations even if he shared in the anger. “No, sir. Just Mrs. Harold tomorrow and then the Lopezes the day after.”

 

Iverson seemed to be pondering something for a while after that, before finally shaking his head and waving a hand in Adam’s direction. “Alright, Wright. Just take the rest of the day off. Do that ‘Netflix and chill’ thing you kids do nowadays or whatever.”

 

Adam’s eyebrow raised. “Are you sure, sir? I wouldn’t want to slack off--”

 

Iverson let out a large groan and hoisted himself off the counter, crossing his arms. “Yes, I’m sure. I can man the counter for the rest of today, ‘s not like much anyone else is gonna come in looking for a shiny new thing the Lions can steal.” His last few words took on a bitter note and Adam decided it was best not to argue too much. He quickly grabbed his bag and with a final thank-you to Iverson, hurried out the door and onto the street. 

 

It was a rather chilly day out and Adam couldn’t help but wrap his arms around himself to protect from the cold. Of course, he kept a firm grip on the handle of his bag and an alert eye out just in case someone decided to steal it, as had happened too many times before. For a weekday afternoon, the streets seemed rather dead. He didn’t see anyone else on the sidewalk and only a couple cars passed him as he walked briskly back to his apartment building. Every few feet, Adam glanced behind him for any sign that someone was following him.  _ You can never be too diligent,  _ he remembered his father saying,  _ Being lazy will get you dead faster than you can blink.  _

 

But today, it seemed like there truly was nobody out. Adam didn’t dwell on why that was, exactly, but he was thankful anyway, as it enabled him to listen more to the sounds of the wind in the trees the city had planted along the sidewalk and if any footsteps were echoing behind him. 

 

Everything seemed perfectly fine until, only a few blocks away from Adam’s apartment, the unmistakable sounds of a fight reached Adam’s ears. He cringed outwardly; he had been desperately hoping to avoid any sort of altercation on his way back. He supposed it was too much to hope for; he did live in  _ Garrison  _ after all. Quiet as a mouse, Adam crept closer to where he believed the fight to be happening, a small alleyway that he usually breezed past every day on his way home. 

 

_ Today of all days,  _ Adam thought bitterly, creeping ever closer,  _ The one day I get off early and this happens.  _

 

Slowly, so as not to initiate any alarm, Adam peered around the corner to the alleyway. He hoped the fight would be distracting to the two parties involved, distracting enough they wouldn’t notice him sneak by. After all, it was dangerous to just make a break for it. He had seen the news stories of bystanders being unwittingly roped into brawls like the one that was going on now and ended up paying for it with their lives. No, it was better to be cautious. Carefully, he peeked around the corner and was practically floored by what he saw. 

 

He had expected to see perhaps two grown men throwing rapid-fire punches at each other, but definitely not what he saw before him. A kid, who couldn’t possibly be older than seventeen or eighteen, was positively destroying another man who lay beneath him. He was a whirlwind, a tornado, kicking and punching and causing new bruises and cuts every other second. “ _ Don’t--ever--fucking--touch--me--again! _ ” the kid roared, throwing a particularly nasty looking hit to the side of the man’s jaw. The guy was putting up a terrific fight, but the boy was clearly winning. In fact, his fighting style looked more...refined. Trained. Like he knew just how to exploit this man’s weaknesses into something he could use. It was terrifying, and it reminded Adam of…

 

He inadvertently gasped and took a step back, realizing much too late it was the wrong thing to do. The kid stopped his assault on the other man and raised his head, glaring at Adam with the force of a thousand suns. He opened his mouth to say something but was abruptly cut off by the other man in the fight flipping him over to the ground, switching their positions. He began to mirror what the boy had been doing to him, delivering several devastating-looking hits to the boy’s nose. The kid struggled, but the upper hand at been lost. His split second of indecision had cost him the fight and Adam felt a horrible pang in his heart. If anything happened to the boy, who was just a mere  _ child _ , he’d never be able to forgive himself. Quick as a flash, Adam was at the boy’s side, hauling the man off of him. It was no easy feat, as the man easily weighed at least fifty pounds more than he did. Spitting and cursing, the man turned to Adam and raised his fists in the air threateningly. 

 

_ “Stay out of the way, bitch--”  _ the man shouted, trying to land a kick to the boy’s ribs, “This is none of your fucking business--”

 

_ Slap! _

 

The man reeled back, cradling his cheek and glowering fiercely at Adam, who was clutching his hand from the force he had exerted on the man. “Did you just fucking slap me?! Fuck, you couldn’t have just minded your own business, huh?” The man started towards Adam, reaching out for him as he shielded the boy from further harm, “I’ll fucking kill you, bitch!”

 

“Don’t you take another  _ step  _ closer to me!” Adam found himself shouting, surprised by the power in his voice, “You won’t like the consequences.” He desperately turned to the kid, who was now wide-eyed and slack-jawed on the ground. He mouthed ‘ _ run’,  _ praying to every deity he knew the kid would follow his directions. 

 

The man guffawed loudly, but Adam noticed he had stopped coming towards them. “Or what? You’ll call the police on me?” He laughed louder still, showing off his yellowing teeth, “We  _ own  _ the police, sweetheart.”

 

“I won’t call the police on you,” Adam said coolly, ignoring the kid’s insistent tugging on his sleeve, “I’ll call someone worse.” God, he couldn’t believe he was doing this. The man probably saw right through his facade and was gonna attack him again any minute. And why didn’t the kid just fucking run already?!

 

The man cocked an eyebrow, sticking a hand in his pocket as if Adam were the most interesting thing in the world. “Oh, yeah? And who would that be, dollface?”

 

Adam took a deep breath and spoke. “ _ Takashi Shirogane.” _

 

Adam knew the power of that name all too well. It was the most feared name in all of Garrison. He was the man who had taken over for the Lions after its previous leader had been killed in a fire. However, he was rumored to be ten times as tough on his subordinates than his father and stronger too. Under his command, as he had heard in the everlasting news reports, crimes had risen quite exponentially and more and more people were being initiated into the Lions than ever before. Nobody dared to breathe a word against him, lest their body end up somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with stones tied to their feet and fish eating their innards. Shirogane was also notoriously hard to get information on. Currently, all the police had on him was his name and a low-quality photograph taken from the outside of what looked like a home gym. They had been handed over to the police by an informant planted to try and get information, but the informant was found brutally murdered in a way that was too awful for Adam to even think about. Of course, that incident had greatly lowered the public’s trust in the police force, since just about the only way Shirogane could’ve found out was through a rat on the inside. Or perhaps the Black Lion was just that good. Adam wouldn’t put it past him. 

 

The man stepped back a bit and raised his hands, his face paling. “Y-You don’t know Shirogane. You’re a liar!” he spat, but Adam could clearly tell he was nervous. 

 

“He’s not lying.” 

 

Adam whipped around to see that the kid he had been shielding had pushed himself into a sitting position. He widened his eyes and mouthed ‘ _ what are you doing?!’.  _ The kid simply smirked and fished out a cell phone from his hoodie pocket, dangling it from his fingers. “See here? I could call Shirogane and have some of his men here in two minutes flat. You don’t want me to do that, right?”

 

The man had taken on the same coloration as a bottle of glue. “No...you’re lying! You don’t know him! You c-can’t know h-him!” his voice was quavering badly. 

 

The boy shrugged and opened up his phone, going into his contact list, dialing a number, and putting it on speaker. He held up the screen to face the man, a devilish smile on his face. The contact name read ‘ _ my annoyingass brother sheewo’ _ . “Let’s find out, shall we?”

 

Adam and the man could only stare in horror as the call was answered and a voice came out of the phone, sounding rather panicked.  _ “Keith, where are you? Do you know how fucking worried I’ve been? I was about to send Pidge out to look for you-” _

 

“I’m fine, Shiro,” the boy(presumably Keith), answered, “Just dealing with a little...problem, is all.”

 

The line went silent for a few seconds. Then: “ _ Is he one of ours?” _

“Yeah, I think so,” Keith replied, getting a strangled garble out of the other man, “He tried to rob me. I tried to tell him who I was, but dude was just interested in making some extra money.”

 

“N-No...please, I never meant to--” the man whispered, falling to his knees, “I’m so sorry, Mr. Kogane, sir, I was only trying to--”

 

“ _ Shut the fuck up!”  _ The voice from the phone sounded pissed off beyond belief. Adam couldn’t help but shrink back a bit in terror, as did the man. If this was really Shirogane, then...he was in incredible danger. 

 

_ “You’ll be dealt with accordingly,”  _ Shirogane continued briskly, “ _ Now, Keith, I’m sending a car over for you. Don’t fucking move.” _

 

“Sure.” Keith said simply, pressing the end call button on the screen and staring at the man triumphantly. “I’d run if I were you.”

 

And run the man did. He tore out of the alleyway with barely concealed sobs of terror, causing Keith to laugh softly. “Oh, fuck, it never fails to make me laugh.”

 

Adam, however, couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t move or do anything. He had just heard the voice of the most feared crime boss in the entire city and he was currently kneeling next to...to his brother? Whoever he was, Shiro was clearly close to him and cared for him enough to worry about his well-being. God, what would he do now that Adam had seen him and knew his name and face? Would he kill him? He probably would. Adam could only hope it wouldn’t be painful.

 

“Hey, are you good, man?” 

 

Adam was roused from his paranoid thoughts by Keith’s voice, the owner of said voice now staring at him with a concerned expression. “Hey, I won’t hurt you. I know you’ve probably heard of Shirogane and--” A look of realization came over his face, “Oh, you’re worried about my  _ brother.  _ No, he won’t...he won’t hurt you. That is, if you don’t go blabbing about what you just saw. Believe me, you just saved my ass back there. We’re practically in debt to you.”

 

Adam released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and allowed his shoulders to relax. “Jesus fucking Christ,” he cursed, holding his head in his hands, “Don’t go scaring me like that again.” He raised his head and frowned deeply, staring after the man’s retreating form, “God, a fully-grown man going after a mere  _ child _ …” He shook his head, “Despicable.”

 

Keith had taken on an expression quite similar to a disgruntled dog. “Hey! I’m fully trained in seven different martial arts styles, you know! And I’m not a kid, I’m eighteen fucking years old.” 

 

Adam felt the corner of his mouth tick up. “So a kid.” His expression hardened once again, however, when he caught sight of the bruises and cuts littering Keith’s body. “Does it hurt anywhere?” he asked softly, a strangely maternal tone in his voice, “Oh, maybe we should take you to a doctor—“ 

 

Keith snorted and reached out to hit the side of Adam’s arm. “I’m fine. It’s takes a lot more than that to get me down.” His expression softened a bit. “Hey, uh, thanks. For back there.”

 

Adam nodded, still not sure Keith was completely okay, but deciding to let it go for the time being. “Sure, sure,” he said, “Anytime. Besides, it’s sort of my fault you got distracted in the first place.”

 

Keith rewarded him with a little half-smile and then stood up with a small groan, holding a hand for Adam to take. Adam grinned and took it, pulling himself up. He was rather pleased to see he was a full two or three inches taller than Keith. He opened his mouth to ask whether or not the car was coming, but at that exact moment, a car pulled up next to the alleyway. Adam froze as two heavily armed men stepped out of the driver’s and passenger’s side doors, cocking their assault weapons threateningly. 

 

“Hey, hey, relax, guys. He’s with me.” Keith said, a tone of authority to his voice, “That won’t be necessary.”

 

The men didn’t move a muscle. “How much does he know?” one of them barked, narrowing his eyes. “Does he require neutralization?” the other asked a split second later. 

 

Keith glared at the men and suddenly he looked very much the leader of the Lions’ brother/cousin/friend or whoever the hell he was. “ _ Stand down.” _

 

The men looked at each other uneasily, but backed down as asked. “Your brother wants to see you immediately.” 

 

Keith groaned in obvious annoyance and turned back to Adam, giving him a mock salute. “See you ‘round, chief. Oh, uh, almost forgot.” He lowered his voice an octave. “What’s your name?”

 

“Adam Wright.” Adam replied without hesitation, an oddly breathy tone in his voice. For some reason, he felt like he could trust this kid. They were practically bonded now, right?

 

Keith nodded and seemed to be considering something. “Alright, thanks again.” he said after several moments of hesitation. Without another word, he spun around on his heel and threw open the backseat door of the car, whispering something to one of the armed men that Adam just barely caught. 

 

“ _ Put him on the No-Harm List.” _

 

The No-Harm List. Adam had heard whispers, mere whispers, of such a thing’s existence. Of course, he had never believed it was really real. He had thought the Lions were ruthless through and through, with a general disregard for any human life. Of course, the purported existence of a No-Harm List made that idea seem rather weak. 

 

The No-Harm List was exactly what it sounded like, at least according to the rumors Adam had heard. It was a list of people the members of Lions were not allowed to harm under any circumstances. They were immune to the havoc the Lions wreaked on the Garrison. Usually, he had heard, the members of the list were family of important higher-ups within the gang. However, some people on the list were different. Those select few were people that were technically not part of the gang, but helped them or had helped them in the past. And now, Adam supposed, he was apart of it. 

 

He wasn’t going to lie, it made him feel a little sick. Even though he had bonded with Keith, it’s not like that alone made him want to be a member of the Lions. In fact, he’d be quite happy if he never saw Keith again. He did not want to be mixed up in their dirty dealings, thank you very much. 

 

Being alone with his thoughts as he lay in bed at night just made Adam fume more. He had sworn to himself and to his father that he would never, ever involve himself in any sort of gang business.  _ Though,  _ he thought begrudgingly, turning off his bedside lamp,  _ I guess it’s my own fault. I should’ve just let Keith handle himself. He clearly can.  _

 

Tomorrow, he then resolved, would be a new day. He’d hopefully never have to see any members of the Lions ever again. It’d be fine. Everything would be fine. 

  
  


Adam was being followed. He didn’t know how he knew, he simply knew. Perhaps it was the tingling at the back of his neck, or the way whenever he turned around he’d see a flash of green disappear behind a corner, or simply the way his gut clenched whenever he was walking on the street. Frankly put, it was terrifying. Was he being marked in some way? Marked for kidnapping? Or murder? He hadn’t done anything wrong, there was no reason why he should be murdered. Oh god, what if Keith really was trying to tie up all the loose ends? After all, he know knew what the leader of the Lions’ brother looked like. Fuck. 

 

“Wright!” 

 

Iverson’s voice was like a bullet to the chest in the way it made him jump. Startled, he dropped the polishing rag he had been clutching to his chest. “Sir?”

 

Iverson leered at him and his one good eye stared down at Adam’s trembling hands. “Good god, boy, what is the matter with you?”

 

The tips of Adam’s ears turned red and he hurriedly bent down to pick up the rag. “It’s nothing, sir. Please don’t worry about me.” he muttered, resuming his meticulous polishing of the glass display case. 

 

Iverson snorted. “Who said I was worried?” he chuckled wryly. Adam could practically feel Iverson’s eye bear down on his shaking frame. “Listen, kid--” The next thing to come out of Iverson’s mouth was softer; kinder sounding, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I’m not going to ask because I know you won’t tell me if I do. But if you want to talk about it, just come talk to me, alright?” He stepped closer and clapped Adam on the shoulder. “Go home, kid,” he murmured, voice softer still, “Get some rest. Don’t come back until you’re ready.”

 

If it wasn’t clear, Adam hadn’t told Iverson about the incident. In fact, he hadn’t told anybody. People wouldn’t trust him and would think he was in league with the Lions. The police would be knocking down his door to get a chance to talk to him. Even though he practically despised the Lions, he didn’t want to rat Keith out. Mostly because he didn’t want to put himself or his family at risk, but also a bit because he genuinely believed he was nice kid. Sure, a high-ranking member of one of the deadliest gangs in the country, but...a nice kid. 

 

“Alright…” Adam said softly, setting the rag down numbly, “Okay. I’ll go and rest.”

 

Iverson looked at him with a tad of pity in his eyes. “That’s my boy.”

 

And with that he whisked himself off to the back room. 

 

_ Talk about deja vu,  _ Adam thought bitterly as he stepped out into the warm afternoon,  _ let’s just hope I don’t get jumped.  _

 

After the incident and subsequent paranoia someone was following him, Adam had taken to carrying around a small bottle of bear mace just in case anything of the sort ever happened again. 

 

At least it was nicer out than it had been that day. The sun was shining warmly and Adam angled his already sun-kissed skin towards it to feel its comforting heat. 

 

“Hey, sweetie!”

 

_ Well,  _ Adam thought coldly, slowly turning towards the voice and reaching for his mace _ , so much for warmth.  _

 

Currently, there were five enormous men stalking towards Adam. All of them were over six feet tall and buff to a fault. They all wore eerie grins on their faces, like cats who had just gotten a whole barrel full of cream. Just the sight of them made all the blood drain from Adam’s face. “Hey, sweetie!” one of them repeated, blowing a kiss, “Goin’ somewhere?”

 

Adam narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders. He was  _ not  _ going to deal with his lying down. Without even one beat of hesitation, he held out his bear mace aimed directly at their faces. “Not with you I’m not. Fuck off.” he said tersely, through gritted teeth. 

 

A couple of the guys looked a bit nervous at the sight of the mace, but they kept walking towards him even as Adam backed up, threatening to mace the lot of them if they took even one step closer. “Leave me alone!” he screamed loudly, hoping a police officer or anyone was nearby and would be able to help him. “What do you want from me?! My wallet?!”

 

Another guy, one with several rings on his meaty fingers and a scar running down the length of his neck, laughed. “Sweetie, we’re just lookin’ for a bit of fun. Aren’t we, guys?” he drawled, to which the other four men murmured in agreement. 

 

Adam knew exactly what sort of “fun” they were referring to and he refused to let it go on any longer. In a wild sort of manner, he pushed the nozzle on his mace and sprayed it all over the mens’ faces, gaining a sick sort of pleasure from the way their faces twisted grotesquely in pain. One of them fell to the ground, shrieking bloody murder. Wasting no time at all, Adam turned on his heel and ran as fast he could. He needed to get away, to get away from this place, to escape. His heart was pounding and his thighs were burning, he was crying, crying so hard…

 

A hand suddenly caught his wrist and tugged him back. With tears streaming down his face, he hit wildly at the wrist that held him, desperate to break free.

 

“Not so fast, bitch…” the owner of the hand growled at him. Adam quickly recognized him as the guy with the rings and the neck scar. He was quickly flanked by two of the other guys, whose eyes were watering profusely but otherwise looked unhurt. Just extremely mad. 

 

Adam held up his mace again and sprayed again, but the can was quickly knocked out of his hand by the guy on the right. It fell to the ground and rolled away; Adam’s only line of defense was gone. 

 

“You know…” Rings leaned down wrapped his arm around Adam’s waist and pulled him flush to his chest. He shoved his nose in Adam’s neck, mouthing sloppily at his skin. “I like ‘em hot and fiery. But you’re getting on my nerves.” Adam struggled profusely and hurled vicious insults at him and the other men, in disbelief this could happen to him. Oh god, this was happening, oh god, oh fucking god...

 

Finally, Rings lifted his head up and began tugging Adam towards a nearby alleyway, keeping his bruising grip on Adam’s wrist. “ _ Let go of me!”  _ Adam screamed, “I’ll give you my fucking wallet, I won’t go to the police...just,  _ please!”  _ Using his free wrist, Adam swung at Rings’ face and managed to get a solid hit to his jaw, ignoring the slight twinge of pain. Finally, Rings looked back on him. He rubbed his already-bruising jaw in pain and growled like an animal. “God, shut the bitch up!” he shouted to the other two men. Before Adam could blink, a rag had been shoved in his mouth and his mouth was covered by one of the other guys. Still, he continued his tirade of kicking and screaming until he was thrown down on the ground of the alleyway in an undignified matter. Immediately, he spit the rag out and attempted to get up, but was held down by Rings. 

 

“You know, it’s gonna be a lot of fun playing with you-” Rings began, his eyes full of amusement, but he was cut off by another shout at the entrance to the alley. 

 

“Hey, assholes!” 

 

The three men and Adam’s heads snapped towards the sound. Standing there, looking particularly menacing, was a teenage girl. Her hair was brown and styled in a messy sort of bob and she wore thick, round-framed glasses. She was wearing jean shorts, ratty sneakers, and her hands were stuck in the pockets of a hoodie of a  _ very  _ familiar shade of green…

 

Sounding almost bored, she snapped her gum and leaned against the wall. “Don’t you assholes read the fucking rules?”

 

Adam turned his head towards the three men, who had gone completely white. Their mouths were hanging wide open and they were trembling even worse than Adam. 

 

The girl rolled her eyes and pointed at Rings. “Dino,” she said simply, “How about you tell me Rule Three?”

 

Rings, now known as Dino, turned even paler and stuttered. “Miss, we...I...I never meant to…”

 

The girl rolled her eyes and pulled out her cellphone. Dangling it in a way that reminded Adam of Keith, she grinned impishly. “Rule Three: no members will engage in any form of sexual assault. The punishment for doing so is exilement or…” she paused for dramatic effect, “death.” Her eyes flicked to Adam, who gulped and shrank back from her gaze. “In fact, I would say death is a pretty viable option for you guys. You tried to hurt somebody on the No-Harm List. You know how Shirogane feels about that.” 

 

By now, the guys had backed off from Adam completely, regarding him as one would regard a bomb about to explode. “Please..don’t call Shirogane…” one of them whimpered, “We’re sorry!”

 

“Sorry won’t cut it, you idiots!” the girl shouted, anger clear in her voice, “Now leave!” 

She pointed to the exit of the alley in the opposite direction, “Run if you want. You’ll be dead tomorrow either way.” 

 

Howling in fear, the men all ran like Satan himself was at their heels. In some regards, he probably was. 

 

And with the speed of lightning, the girl was at his side, helping him off the ground. “Are you okay?”

 

Adam opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a raspy whisper of: “Fine.”

 

The girl looked at him with concern clear in her face, a complete one-eighty from what Adam had witnessed just a few seconds earlier. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here earlier..” she said in a rush, “I...I was in an electronics store and I got caught up in--”

 

“Hold on.” Adam said sharply, seemingly finding his voice again, “Were you…” he took a look at the girl’s green sweatshirt, the same shade of the green he had seen disappearing around corners since yesterday. “Have you been following me?”

 

The girl lowered her head and nodded, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve. “Yeah. I have. But it’s not for anything creepy, I promise!” She added quickly, seeing the horrified look on Adam’s face, “It’s just...Shiro asked me to keep an eye on you.”

 

Adam raised an eyebrow, trying not to let his fear show. “Shirogane? Why…” he swallowed, “Why would he want to keep an eye on me? I know I’m on this…” he gestured vaguely to the air, “No-Harm List or whatever, but...I just want to be left alone!”

 

The girl pushed up her glasses and looked almost mournful. “It was only supposed to be for a few days, I promise. But then... _ this  _ happened and now I have to call it in. To Shiro.”

 

It was at that moment that Adam let his fear show. He seized the girl’s arm and stared straight into her eyes. “No! No, please, you can’t call Shirogane...I promised my family I wouldn’t get mixed up in all this...this gang business and I--” He took a deep breath, wiping away a tear with the back of his wrist, “I’m fine, really, and I just want to be left alone!” 

 

The girl’s expression did not change. “I’m sorry, but I have to. If it were just petty theft or catcalling I could’ve dealt with it myself without having to call it in, but they were clearly trying to assault you.” She gently shook herself free of Adam’s grasp. “I have to.” she repeated. 

 

Adam took a step back, his heart going a million beats per minute. No, he couldn’t be here. He had to leave, he had to leave, he had to go…

 

“Don’t run.” the girl said crisply, her amber eyes boring into his while she dialed the number without even looking, “You’re only going to make it worse for yourself. Shiro will go to any lengths to make sure you’re okay and that includes breaking down your apartment door if he needs to. Better to get it over with now.” She put the phone on speaker mode and flopped to the ground, hunching over in a criss-cross sitting style. 

 

Well, Adam supposed, this was the end. Realistically, he knew Shirogane wouldn’t kill him. He wouldn’t have put him on the No-Harm List if he intended to kill him as soon as he was able. But he couldn’t help be a little scared. He had heard countless stories of Shirogane getting offended by something one of his own men said and immediately snuffing their lights out. It was only a matter of time before the same thing happened to him 

 

_ Maybe the stories aren’t true,  _ Adam tried to reason with himself,  _ They’re just stories, aren’t they? Just exaggerations.  _

 

He looked over at the girl, who was still waiting for the phone to be answered. She looked slightly annoyed at the sound of the dial tone, and Adam prayed that Shirogane wouldn’t pick up. Of course, the universe hadn’t been kind to him lately, so why would it start now? 

 

_ “Hey, Pidge, what’s up?”  _ a familiar voice suddenly came from the phone, “ _ Sorry I didn’t pick up right away, I was-” _

 

“Shiro.” The girl cut him off right away and Adam knew she wasn’t the type to beat around the bush. “Something’s happened.”

 

There was a pause, not unlike the one that had happened after Keith had told him he was dealing with a little problem. And then:  _ “What happened?”  _

The voice was eerily calm, too calm, and Adam found that he hated it even more than the sound of Shirogane angry. He couldn’t control his trembling and he slowly slid down against the wall to the ground, hugging his knees. Honestly, he didn’t know why he was so scared of Shirogane. He hadn’t done anything specifically to harm him, but the news stories, gossip, bits overheard from work...they were almost too much 

 

“Someone attacked Adam,” the girl(Shiro had called her Pidge) continued, taking a deep breath, “They...They tried to... _ assault  _ him.” Another deep breath and a furtive glance over to Adam. “Broke Rule Three.” 

 

The phone line then went quiet for a worryingly long time. Adam then realized he hated the silence most of all. He exchanged worried glances with the girl and she opened her mouth to presumably say something else, but she barely had gotten a word out before a horrific sounding crash came from the phone, as if something heavy had been hurled against a wall. 

 

“Shiro! Shiro, what happened?!” the girl shouted, her amber eyes widening in fear, “Are you okay?”

 

_ “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”  _ The voice sounding from the phone seemed to barely be holding back an enormous amount of rage,  _ “Who did it? Who hurt him?” _

 

The girl looked off down the alleyway and then in the direction of the street he had run from, clutching her phone just a bit tighter. “Five of them approached him, but then he maced them and managed to take down a couple. Only three did any actual attacking. I don’t think they knew he was on the No-Harm list.”

 

_ “I don’t give a fuck. They hurt him, they’ll all be dead tomorrow.”  _ The voice was like hellfire and ice.  _ “Send Matt and Xordi out for recon and have them bring all five of them to me personally. I’ll see to it myself they get their justice. I trust you know who the five are?” _

 

The girl hummed in affirmation and typed something in on her phone. “Okay, done.” She turned to face Adam and her face took on a mournful expression. “Shiro, I know you’ll want to come here personally and I know it’s policy, but I’m looking at him right now and he looks scared half to death. I know you want to see him again, but maybe it’d be better to wait a little bit, break it to him slowly-”

 

Break it to him? Break what to him? Had he done something wrong? Was he going to be killed after all? And what was this about “seeing him again”? Dear god, was he being  _ stalked?! _ Adam didn’t understand why Shirogane was so fixated on him specifically. He knew that this sort of thing probably didn’t happen regularly, but to be this obsessed with him….

 

_ “No!” _

 

They both jumped and Pidge looked very worried. “Shiro, what--”

 

_ “Pidge, I can’t. I can’t wait any longer.”  _ Shirogane sounded on the verge of tears, desperate and irrational,  _ “I can’t.” _

 

Pidge looked back to Adam worriedly and bit her lip. “Alright,” she said finally, as if Adam weren’t even there, “We’re at the corner of Kerberos and Earth street.”

 

_ “I’ll be right there.” _ Shirogane’s voice was crisp and to the point, leaving no room for argument. Obviously, he knew Pidge would probably protest, but hanging up immediately quelled any sort of discussion they might’ve had. 

 

Both Pidge and Adam both stared at the phone in tense silence for a few moments. Then, not being able to take being kept in the dark anymore, Adam broke the quiet.    
  


“Alright, someone needs the explain what the hell is going on here,” he nearly growled, fists clenching, “All I want to do is just go home and take a shower and sleep for three days, but  _ apparently  _ my fucking  _ stalker  _ feels the need to trap me here and for what? So he can...can look me over? And see me again? What the hell does that mean? How long have you people been following me around? Am I a target for something? Why-”

 

“You’ll see in just a few minutes.” Pidge cut off his stream of questions, eyes constantly flicking to the street as if watching for something. “I promise you’ll see, but you won’t like it. 

 

Adam made an ugly noise at the back of his throat. “I’ll  _ see?!  _ I don’t want to stick around and wait for a...a wanted criminal, for god’s sakes!” He buried his head in his hands and took several deep breaths, trying to suppress a frustrated scream. He lifted his head once more, ready to unleash hell upon the girl, but his words completely died in his throat the moment he lay his eyes on the sleek black sports car pulling up to where they stood at the entrance to the alley. No, there’s no way that could be Shirogane. Pidge had only called a few minutes ago, there was simply no way…

 

But the way Pidge ran up to the driver’s side door as it opened confirmed his worst suspicions. Shirogane was less than twenty feet in front of him, the head of the Lions was about to check up on him because he had so foolishly stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong. 

 

Adam stared at the ground, completely rooted to the spot as Shirogane and Pidge exchanged a few soft words he couldn’t hear. He resolved, right then and there, that he would never look Shirogane in the eye. Shirogane could confirm he was alright and write up a report or whatever the hell it was he did and leave him alone for good. Adam would never have to speak a word to him if he didn’t want to. And he wouldn’t. Of that he was certain. 

 

He flinched slightly as he heard footsteps take a few tentative steps closer to him. His eyes remained stubbornly glued to the ground, as he could now see a pair of black lace up military combat boots within his field of vision. 

 

“ _ Adam…” _

 

Adam grew rigid. It was one thing to hear Shirogane’s voice on the phone, but it was completely different to hear it now. And for his name to be whispered so reverently...it sent shivers down his spine. There was something about Shirogane’s voice, something that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. 

 

“Adam, please look at me…”

 

Shirogane’s voice was pleading and did not sound like a crime boss at all. It sounded vulnerable, like he was bearing his entire soul for Adam to rip apart as he pleased. In fact, it wasn’t unlike a voice buried deep in his psyche, a voice he had sworn to forget…

 

Adam froze. No, it couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t, could it? There was no way that could be  _ him.  _ He had left years ago, abandoned him and left him to cry alone. His first and only love. 

 

Slowly, he lifted his head and allowed his eyes to roam past the sculpted calves, the broad chest, the strong arms and….

 

As his eyes slowly dragged up to Shirogane’s face, he prayed he would be wrong. That this was all somehow a mistake and Shirogane wasn’t really--

 

“ _ Kuron…?”  _ Adam’s voice was weak and he cursed himself for sounding like so small and powerless. But the face he was staring at was unmistakably, undeniably Kuron. Though he now had a scar across the bridge of his nose and a white shock of hair, it couldn’t have been anyone else but him. It was then that the rest of the world fell away and all he could perceive was the man in front of him. 

 

Shirogane/Kuron gave a watery smile, but Adam could tell there was a world of pain and hurt behind those eyes. “Hello, Adam.” 

 

Adam’s eyes widened as the reality sunk in and he took a staggering step back, then another. “No, no, no…” he muttered, shaking his head, “No, this isn’t right.”

 

Shirogane’s face fell and he took a step forward, holding out an arm. “Adam...I’m so sorry...please believe me when I say that I never--I  _ never  _ wanted to leave you…”

 

Adam felt a tear roll down his cheek, then another, then several more. “God, you...you fucking  _ idiot!”  _ He hurled himself at Shirogane’s chest and began pounding his fists on his broad chest, sobbing loudly. “You fucking  _ liar! You son-of-a-bitch!  _ How dare you come back here a-after...after all these years! After you left me?!” He let out a large wail and felt his knees weaken, then give out completely. He would’ve crashed to the ground had Shirogane not caught him and lowered him down gently, all the while murmuring soft apologies and wrapping his arms around Adam’s trembling form. 

 

“I--I wanted to hate you!” Adam sobbed, his hits getting weaker and weaker, “But I c-couldn’t! I fucking loved you, you goddamn  _ idiot!  _ I’ve waited for you all these years, but you never came--” he gasped, a full-body sob wracking his body, “ _ You never came back and I couldn’t hate you for it!”  _ His voice dissolved into nothing but wails and occasional broken insults finding their way through. It was true, every word. He wanted to hate Kuron, the man who loved him and left him, so badly. But he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. He simply couldn’t let go of the only person who he had ever loved. 

And even now, as he was cradled against Shirogane’s chest, Adam knew he couldn’t hate him. If Kuron, the man who he had loved, and Shirogane, the bloodthirsty leader of the Lions, were one in the same...then he couldn’t possibly hate him. After all, even after all these years, Adam found himself yearning for this. For Kuron’s smell of woodsmoke and mint, for his chest that was perfect for curling up on, for his strong arms wrapped around him that made him feel as though nothing would ever hurt him. Although now, he supposed, Kuron wasn’t Kuron. He was Takashi Shirogane, the Black Lion, leader of the most dangerous gang in Garrison. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” Shirogane murmured, rubbing his back in a comforting way, “I promise I’ll explain everything to you if you just give me the chance—“

 

“Shut up…” Adam muttered, closing his eyes and folding himself into Shirogane’s chest, “Just...let me have this. And then we can talk.” By now, Adam’s cries and sobs had died down to almost nothing except a few tears and shuddery breaths. His anger had simmered down as well, but wasn’t completely gone. He couldn’t hate Shirogane, not anymore, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t owed an explanation. 

 

“Of course,” Shirogane said softly, carding his hands through Adam’s hair, “Take all the time you need.” 

 

Adam nodded weakly and closed his eyes. It was just a little rest, he told himself, just a couple minutes. And then they could talk. 

 

But soon enough, the events of the day caught up to him and he found himself becoming lighter and lighter. The memories of him and Kuron at their happiest were the last things he thought of before he finally allowed sleep to take him. 


	2. the past

“Class, we have a new student with us today.” 

Adam looked up in interest, discarding his random doodle of a spaceship. Their school, quite originally named Garrison High, was a rather hard school to get into, so transfer students weren’t especially common. Especially during senior year. Garrison High was a pretty good school, though, despite the fact that their crime rates were some of the highest in the nation. They somehow managed to retain good teachers through extremely high pay and good benefits. Because of this, the school decided to implement an application process that weeded out some of the more undesirable students. It wasn’t impossible and the standards weren’t nearly as high as some other high schools, but as Adam recalled, the application essay was quite a bitch. 

Their homeroom teacher, a warm-looking woman named Mrs. Balmera, gestured to the new student in question. “How about you tell us about yourself?”

Adam’s eyes flitted over to the student and his jaw dropped to the floor. Sweet Jesus, this guy was hot. In fact, ‘hot’ was probably an understatement. He was fucking gorgeous. His black hair was styled in a way that looked amazing, but still managed to seem as though he had just rolled out of bed. His eyes were a gorgeous shade of deep brown and his jawline looked like it could cut him with barely a touch. The guy was wearing a black leather jacket over a tee-shirt with a NASA logo stamped on it. Although, Adam noted thirstily, the guy’s chest was so wide that the print had started to become cracked in some places due to the stretch. 

However, despite the fact he looked like a Greek god come to life, the guy smiled a bit nervously and gave a two-fingered mock salute. “Hey. Uh, my name is Kuron Raionki and I just moved here from Olkarion.”

Despite his nervous smile and slight fidgeting, his small introduction of himself seemed well-rehearsed and calculated, like he had been practicing in front of a bathroom mirror or something. For some reason, that made him seem all the more cute and Adam’s heart gave a tiny flutter. Fuck, he was so gone for this guy and he had only first seen him maybe thirty seconds ago. 

Mrs. Balmera smiled warmly at Kuron and gestured to the empty seat next to Adam, “Alright, well, how about you sit there for now? We’ll find you another seat somewhere else later, if you’d like.” 

Adam’s cheeks pinkened as Kuron’s eyes flickered over to him. For a second, all was quiet. Then, Kuron broke into a large smile and shook his head slightly. “No, I think I’ll be just fine there.”

Mrs. Balmera nodded and turned back to the board. “Alright, well, make yourself at home. Adam will help you with whatever you need.” 

Kuron hummed an affirmation and slung his bag over his shoulder as he walked to the seat next to Adam. Suddenly, Adam was extremely self-conscious of...well, literally everything. He was wearing holey skinny jeans and an old gray Air Force sweater that did absolutely nothing for his figure. His hair looked like a mess, he had ugly cat-eye glasses, and his skin was simply atrocious-looking. God, he didn’t even deserve to look upon Kuron’s face. Blushing profusely, he turned away from Kuron as he sat down in the chair, praying to any god that would listen that he wouldn’t have to make conversation. 

“Hey.” 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

Adam slowly turned his body to face Kuron, who was looking at him with the most adorable expression on his face. “Yes?” he answered lamely, trying to sound cool and failing miserably. 

Kuron held up a piece of paper with the words ‘Course Schedule’ written on the top. “Do you have any of these classes? This school is sort of big and I’m pretty hopeless with directions, so I was hoping you could maybe help me.” He chuckled quietly, an action that caused Adam’s brain to go haywire. 

“Sure,” he managed to squeak out, taking the schedule with trembling fingers. He quickly read through the courses. Shit. He had his first three periods of the day plus lunch with Kuron. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate when the sexiest person alive was in the same room with him? Adam’s mind was already coming up with all the ways that Kuron could hold him down and have his filthy way with him and he had known him for barely three minutes. 

“Looks like you have Advanced Astrophysics, AP Calculus, and CIS Human Anatomy with me,” Adam managed to choke out, handing the schedule back, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you won’t get lost.”

Kuron practically beamed at him. “Thanks! Um, you’re Adam?”

Adam cracked a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, Adam. Adam Wright.”

Kuron nodded slowly, as if soaking it all in. “Adam…” he whispered, almost like a prayer. A full body shiver ran through him and he found himself whispering back: “Kuron…”

Their eyes locked and Adam found himself drowning in the depth of Kuron’s impossibly beautiful eyes, his eyes flicking towards his full bow lips...

Then, like something out of a cheesy high school movie, the bell rang and broke the moment between them. Adam blushed and hurriedly turned away from Kuron, packing up his things to go to their first class. When he managed to turn back, Kuron was staring at him expectantly. “Lead the way.”

And so Adam did. And when Kuron found him in the lunchroom three periods later, he somehow got through the meal without embarrassing himself. 

From that moment on, they were inseparable. 

They did everything together, from homework to extracurriculars to simply playing pilot simulation games, a weird hobby they both seemed to enjoy. Soon, Adam was spending more time with Kuron than his own family, something he was strangely okay with. His father, however, strongly disapproved of his friendship with Kuron. Though his now best friend had been nothing but polite and courteous to him, his father would never return it. 

“There’s something off about that boy, I just know it. Stay away from him, Adi,” he would say, always rubbing his eyepatch while he did so. 

Of course, Adam didn’t listen. Why would he? Kuron was the best thing that had ever happened to him. His father was just old and paranoid from losing his eye to the Lions. He couldn’t understand. 

Two months after they first met, they had their first kiss.

Two months and four days after they first met, they had their first date. 

And six months and two weeks after they first met, they said their first ‘I love yous’. 

_______

It was a starry night, the night they said their first ‘I-love-yous’. They were in Shiro’s sleek black Camaro, parked in a middle of a lover’s lane. At first, Adam had been concerned about their safety. After all, the Lions had been known to ambush couples in abandoned roadways just like this. But Kuron had assured him that nothing would happen to them, that he’d “make sure of it”. It struck Adam as a little weird, but soon enough the feel of Kuron’s lips on his made his mind hazed enough to not worry about silly little things like that. 

He was straddling Kuron in the backseat of the car, kissing as though they each were drowning and the other was pure, fresh air. Kuron’s hands were placed lightly, but firmly on his hips, as if he were afraid that Adam might be bruised. Adam’s hands were looped around Kuron’s neck and they were kissing and everything was perfect--

“Ah!” 

Adam gasped sharply, breaking the kiss. Kuron’s hands had begun traveling up from his waist to the bare skin under his shirt, something that sent tingles of electricity up his spine. 

However, Kuron’s hands were now frozen on his waist. “I’m sorry,” he apologized genuinely, “We don’t have to--”

Adam shushed him with another kiss that went on for several seconds until he came back up, panting slightly. “No, no...don’t stop…” he pleaded. 

Adam knew exactly what they were getting into and he wanted it so bad. He had wanted it ever since they had their first kiss and he knew that he would forever be smitten with this man. He and Kuron hadn’t really discussed their “first time”, like where it would happen or when it would be. They had sort of mutually agreed that they would just let it happen when it did, and so far they hadn’t done anything too R-rated. Just heavy makeout sessions and clothed frotting and grinding. But now, even though they were in the middle of nowhere and cramped in the backseat of a car...it felt right. 

Adam looked down at Kuron with hooded eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly. “I…” He dropped his head, a blush covering most of his cheeks and ears(though it couldn’t really be seen in the darkness of the night). Even though he wanted Kuron to do filthy things to him, he couldn’t voice it. It was embarrassing. 

“Hey.” 

Kuron’s hand came up and lifted his chin up so they were making eye contact. His smile was soft and bright and Adam knew that he wanted to see that smile for the rest of his life. 

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Kuron continued, “I don’t want to force you to do something you don’t want to.”

Adam’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, I do! I want you so much…” He buried his face into his boyfriend’s neck, too embarrassed to look him in the eye any further. “It’s just...it’s weird to say it.”

Kuron chuckled and leaned up to Adam’s ear. “To say what?” he said in a low voice, his warm breath tickling his skin, “That you want me to fuck you so hard you can’t breathe?” 

Adam made a choked-sounding sort of gasp and hit Kuron on the shoulder, like a scandalized lady. “Kuron!”

Kuron laughed. “I’m just kidding!” He gazed up at Adam’s red face and the corner of his mouth ticked up and he smirked. “But I will if you want me to.” 

Adam snorted. God, did he love this man. “Just shut up and kiss me, you idiot.” 

Kuron smiled impishly, as if this was his plan all along. “Gladly.” Quick as a flash, he brought Adam’s head down to meet his own and then they were kissing again, as if they had never stopped. 

Adam moaned slightly into the kiss, his mind going slightly hazy. This was heaven, he was sure of it. There was no possible way that anything could possibly be better than this. 

Suddenly, Kuron’s hands had dipped below his waistline and were now groping at his ass. Adam had, in fact, been mistaken. This was definitely better. 

“Oh…” Adam sighed quietly, shuddering at the sensation of Kuron’s hands in such a sensitive place of his. He desperately hoped that they wouldn’t stop there, as they had before. 

Kuron’s hands slowly dragged out of Adam’s pants and up to his waist again, where they began caressing his skin. Adam couldn’t do anything but pant quietly into the dark, his mind becoming foggy with pleasure. Suddenly, Kuron’s fingers brushed over his nipples and he lurched forward with a small gasp, trembling slightly. He could practically feel Kuron’s shit-eating smile. 

“Oh,” he crooned, rubbing at the buds and flicking them, “Are these sensitive?” 

Adam glared at him with no real malice, which only served to make Kuron laugh and take his hands out from under Adam’s shirt. 

“Just take off your pants and shirt,” Kuron said finally, gesturing vaguely to the front seat, “I want to see you.”

Adam gave a small hum of compliance and began shimmying out of his pants. It took a couple minutes, but he finally managed to get out of them and he threw them somewhere on the dashboard. His shirt was a much quicker job, however, and it wasn’t long before he was straddling Kuron almost completely naked. It made Adam feel slightly self-conscious, as he was leaner than Kuron by a fair amount. He made a move to cover his chest, but Kuron quickly grabbed his wrists and wouldn’t let go. 

“Don’t,” Kuron said seriously, his deep brown eyes boring into Adam’s hazel ones, “Don’t cover yourself.”

Adam huffed. “Easy for you to say.” Kuron wasn’t the one almost completely naked. 

Kuron laughed a bit breathlessly, letting Adam’s wrists go and beginning his slow caressing of Adam’s waist again. “Should I get undressed too to make you feel better?”

Adam gazed down at Kuron’s strong, muscular arms and the large bulge in his pants, swallowing audibly. He decided that he’d very much like Kuron to get undressed and voiced as much. 

Kuron smirked, mock saluting just as he had on the day he had first walked into Mrs. Balmera’s homeroom. “Your wish is my command.”

Adam raised himself off of Kuron to allow him to to get out of clothes. His legs began to cramp rather quickly, as he was standing in a rather undesirable position with the car roof being the way it was. Kuron, of course, was being a little shit and taking as long as possible. 

“Jesus,” Adam groaned, trying almost too hard not to stare at Kuron’s dick straining against his briefs, “Just hurry up.”

Kuron finally seemed to take pity on him and quickly discarded the rest of his clothes, leaving him in all his sexy, Greek god-looking glory. Adam slowly lowered himself back down onto Kuron’s lap and practically moaned at the feeling of Kuron’s cock rubbing against his ass. There were now only two thin pieces of fabric separating them and Adam wanted them gone yesterday. 

“Shit…” Kuron breathed into his ear, his hands back on Adam’s hips, “You’re gorgeous.”

A short, breathy laugh escaped Adam’s lips. Him, gorgeous? 

“I should be telling you that,” he retorted, bringing his hands down to rest on either side of Kuron’s unfairly handsome face, “You look like...like…perfection.” He immediately winced at his awkward choice of wording. 

There was a short pause before Kuron broke into a soft, loving smile. “Yeah? I could say the same thing about you.” 

Adam turned beet red. “We’re not going to get anywhere if all we do is say ‘no, you’ to the compliments we get.” he mumbled. 

Kuron’s hands were suddenly gone from his hips and had now come to rest tangled in his hair. “Then let’s do something.” 

His boyfriend’s voice was unbelievably soft, like he was afraid Adam might disappear at any moment. Adam knew that he wasn’t going anywhere, so for the third time that night, brought Kuron’s lips to his.

This time, their kissing was softer and slower, as if they had all the time in the world. Adam hoped they would. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kuron, despite only having met him six months ago. 

One of Kuron’s hands had now dipped below his waistband again and was stroking the curve of his ass. It felt so good, but Adam wanted more. He wanted to give all of himself over to Kuron. 

He pulled away from Kuron’s lips and for several moments they were silent. The only sound that could be heard was the panting into each other’s mouths. 

“Do you have any lube?” Adam murmured finally, feeling lewd as all hell with just that simple sentence. God, how would he feel when Kuron’s dick was actually in him? 

“Yeah,” Kuron breathed, reaching into a small compartment on the passenger’s side door, “Yeah, I do.” 

From the compartment, he pulled out a small bottle of lube and held it up with a sly grin. “I always come prepared.” 

Adam rolled his eyes good-naturedly and pecked him on the cheek. “One of the things I love about you.” 

Kuron looked pleased. “Oh, you’re about to get a lot more things you love about me,” he said lowly, popping open the bottle and drizzling a generous amount on his fingers. 

Even though Kuron hadn’t even touched him yet, Adam shivered at the sight. The reality of the situation had only just begun to sunk in and the anticipation was thrumming through his veins. He was going to have sex with his boyfriend. With Kuron. With the love of his life. 

Still, the fact that he had tried fingering himself at home once or twice didn’t stop him from gasping at Kuron’s lube-covered finger slowly pressing into his hole. God, it felt so weird. Not bad, just...weird. Instinctively, he clenched around the foreign intrusion and Kuron gave a stifled groan. 

“Sweetheart, you have to relax for me…” Kuron murmured, using his free hand to brush Adam’s hair out of his eyes, “I won’t be able to fit in you if you don’t.” 

Okay, Adam thought, I got this. Relax. Relax. 

Slowly, Adam unclenched from around Kuron’s finger and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I’m okay.”

Kuron nodded wordlessly and began slowly moving the finger around inside of Adam, exploring. It sent little sparks of pleasure down Adam’s spine and he exhaled shakily, resting his forehead on Kuron’s shoulder. After a bit, he began to press rather shaky butterfly kisses to Kuron’s neck in between short gasps of pleasure. Kuron seemed to appreciate them, the way he tilted his head to the side to allow more access. 

Soon enough, Kuron added a second finger, then a third. He kept a mostly steady rhythm of push in, feel around a bit, and pull out, with the occasional crook of his fingers, which made Adam moan in pleasure and constantly yearn for more. 

“Kuron...oh, god…” he whimpered after a particularly hard thrust in with his fingers, “Please…” 

Kuron’s little-shit meter seemed to be relatively high today, as he simply looked amused and pulled out of Adam. Adam couldn’t help the small, helpless-sounding whine which left his throat, which only served to make Kuron look all the more gleeful. “Please what?” Kuron asked, “Please...fuck you so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a week?”

Adam squealed and buried his face in Kuron’s neck. “Kuron! You can’t just say things like that!” 

Kuron’s amused smile only grew wider as he nipped at the junction between Adam’s neck and shoulder. “Oh, but can’t I?” 

Adam groaned into Kuron’s shoulder and batted at his chest with his hand. “You’re impossible.”

Kuron shrugged, as if accepting his own impossibility, and began groping at Adam’s ass once more, spreading his asscheeks open to expose his hole. Adam inhaled sharply and his grip on Kuron’s shoulders tightened. “Please...oh, god, please…” 

Kuron’s eyes flickered down to Adam’s dick, which was still covered by his underwear. “First, take those off…” he murmured in a husky voice, “And then get mine off too.” 

Adam wasted no time at all in shucking off his briefs, and then reaching around in the dark for Kuron’s and then pulling them down as well. Oh, but he was not prepared for what he saw, not at all. 

Kuron was big. Like, super fucking big. Even in the dark, Adam could see that he was quite generously endowed and he wasn’t even at full staff yet. Adam felt a sudden pang of regret for not paying more attention to that dick of his. He should’ve given him a blowjob or at the very least a handjob, but no--they just had to go straight to fingering. 

“Like what you see?” Kuron’s little shittiness was evident in his voice as he eyed Adam’s own erect cock. 

Adam tore his eyes away from Kuron’s dick and let his eyes settle on his chest. There were a multitude of absolutely depraved things he wanted to say about it, but Adam wasn’t sure Kuron would appreciate hearing him say he wanted him to bend him over and fuck his hole until he couldn’t take it anymore. He settled on nodding instead.  
He could feel Kuron’s eyes trying to sense what he was feeling, as he always did when Adam wouldn’t tell him outright. Adam found himself hoping that ‘I want to get fucked into next Sunday’ wasn’t a sense-able emotion, otherwise he was screwed. 

“Are you okay?” Kuron’s surprisingly soft voice startled him out of his thoughts. Shit. How was he supposed to explain to Kuron that his dick was practically making him go into shock? 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine!” Adam reassured him, smiling warmly, “I promise I am.” 

Kuron looked unconvinced. “Sweetheart, if you don’t want to do this, I won’t make you. We can always just--” 

“No!” 

Startled at Adam’s sudden outburst, Kuron shut his mouth. Oh, fuck. Adam had really screwed up this time. 

“It’s just--” Adam took a deep breath, “Your dick is so fucking big and I didn’t even know they made dicks that big like it’s so fucking sexy just like the rest of you and oh, god I want it in me so bad it hurts--” 

“Whoa, okay!” Kuron interrupted, placing his hands on either side of Adam’s face, “Slow down, babe. Deep breaths.” 

Kuron led Adam through a couple deep breaths, in and out, one two three. After he’d calmed down, Adam found himself practically mortified that he’d allow himself to ramble on about Kuron’s dick of all things. 

“Alright…” Kuron took a deep breath and cracked a small grin, “You’re telling me you suddenly got all shy and quiet because my dick is big?” 

Adam groaned, covering his face with his hands. “I know, it’s so dumb. It’s just...I didn’t expect to have my first time with someone whose dick looks like a fifth limb.”

There was silence for several moments and Adam worried that Kuron had somehow become disgusted with him and his weird fixation on his dick size. He peeked out from under his hands only to find Kuron staring at him with a look of shock on his face. “What?” he asked, uncovering his face completely, “I’m sorry if I’m being weird—“

“I’m your first time?”

Adam’s eyes widened slightly and he nodded. “Yeah…” he said a bit uncertainly, not really knowing what to say. Was it going to be a deal-breaker?

Kuron didn’t say anything for several moments, he simply stared at Adam with the same look of slightly reverent shock, as if Adam were a god come to Earth. It made Adam feel slightly uncomfortable. Had he said something wrong? Did Kuron not like virgins? He bit his lip and slowly began to raise himself off of Kuron, a bit of sadness filling his heart. “I’m sorry, we don’t have to do anything if--”

“No!”

Adam froze. Kuron looked slightly embarrassed at his outburst and rubbed his temple. “Sorry, sorry...it’s just…” He gripped Adam’s hips and slowly pulled him back down until his dick was rubbing against Adam’s ass, making him inhale sharply, “I didn’t think I’d be your first...n-not that there’s anything wrong with non-virgins, virginity is totally a social construct and--” Kuron hung his head and Adam could see the tips of his ears were red even in the dark. “Sorry…” he murmured, “The idea of being the only one to take you...it’s…” He gazed up at Adam again and Adam could see the lust in his eyes, “Fuck, Adam, it’s so hot.” 

That lit a fire in Adam’s belly and he felt his dick twitch in interest. “Oh my god, Kuron…” he said breathlessly, “Stop being a weirdo and just fuck me already.” 

Kuron smiled at that. He reached for the bottle of lube and proceeded to squirt the rest of it onto his hand, reaching down to his crotch. Adam shuddered softly, watching with bated breath as Kuron lubed up his dick with quick strokes and flicks of his wrist. God, Adam was so hard already and he wanted Kuron so, so badly. 

“Please…” Adam groaned, his legs quivering under his weight, “Please, Kuron, I need you, please…”

Kuron finally seemed to take pity on Adam and gripped his hips and slowly pushing him down so his ass was rubbing against his dick. Adam moaned at the feeling and rutted against his cock. “Oh my god, you’re so big…”

Kuron smirked and pushed Adam’s hair out of his eyes. “It’s gonna feel even bigger when it’s in you.”

Adam squealed, still not used to the idea of even medium-core dirty talk directed at him. “Kuron!” 

Kuron laughed his beautiful laugh and gently pulled Adam up by his hips, holding him over his hard sex. “Are you ready, beautiful?” he asked, his voice soft and full of affection. 

Adam nodded vigorously, wondering if he’d be able to stand even another second. “Yes, please, oh, please, give it to m--hngh!” His pleas were abruptly cut off as Kuron gently lowered him down onto his thick cock. Dear god, Kuron was maybe half an inch inside him and Adam already felt so fucking full. He grasped onto Kuron’s shoulder, his entire body shaking in repressed pleasure. 

“Are you alright?” Kuron asked gently, stroking Adam’s back, “I’m sorry if it hurts.”

It did hurt a bit, even though Kuron had thoroughly stretched him out beforehand. Adam suspected that it was because Kuron was so thick and for some reason that made it even hotter. “Please…” he pleaded in a mangled voice, “You...You can go in more…”

Kuron simply nodded and began sliding into Adam at a snail’s pace. Adam could tell he was holding back what he really wanted to do, but right now, this was about all he could handle. He knew from his scandalous late night readings of gay magazines that the first few inches almost always hurt, and this was no exception. He had to take several deep breaths in order to keep from whimpering in pain, but Kuron was as loving as ever, making sure to go as slow as possible. After the worst of the pain had gone away, Adam began to feel something, a pleasure deep in his bones. It sent him reeling, and Kuron hadn’t even started moving for real yet. 

“Kuron…” Adam moaned breathily, pressing a sloppy kiss to his lover’s neck, “You feel so good, so good...so big and thick and long…” By this point, Adam didn’t really care that he was dirty-talking just as Kuron was, embarrassing as it was. All thoughts like that had left his brain several inches ago. 

“Almost there, baby,” Kuron muttered, looping his hands back around Adam’s waist again, “Just hang on.”

Adam practically moaned at that. He already was feeling so impossibly full and stretched out, and there was still more to go. In a weird corner of his mind, he wondered if this meant he was a size queen, but he supposed that he and Kuron could talk about that later.  
Kuron swore softly as he finally, finally bottomed out within Adam. Adam, on the other hand, could barely even speak. He had tried fucking himself on various other things before, but absolutely nothing compared to this. He felt as though Kuron had carved out a new space for himself inside him that hadn’t been there before, leaving him forever ruined for anyone but him. Slightly dazedly, he gazed into Kuron’s eyes and was practically bowled over by the uncontained want held within them. God, that was so incredibly sexy. Overcome by lust, Adam leaned over and began abusing Kuron’s neck with kisses and love nips, rocking slightly on his cock. Kuron let out a garbled groan and gripped Adam’s hips hard enough to bruise. It gave Adam a sick sort of satisfaction to know that Kuron would leave marks on him that wouldn’t fade so easily. 

After several minutes of Adam simply getting used to Kuron’s large size and waiting for the little amount of pain to dissipate, Kuron spoke again. “Can I…” he said in a strained voice, “Can I move, baby?”

Adam pulled back from his boyfriend’s neck and nodded minutely, leaning forward a bit so Kuron would have more room to move. Of course, with Kuron being the way he was, he was about to free the beast. And the only thing Adam could do was hold on for the ride. 

Sure enough, Kuron snapped his hips up into Adam with all the force he could muster, not even trying to be gentle anymore. It punched a gasp out of Adam and his grip on Kuron’s shoulders tightened. That one thrust sent a wave of pleasure coursing through him and he couldn’t imagine what it would feel like once Kuron had set a steady rhythm. 

Luckily for him, he didn’t have to wonder long. Not three seconds after the first thrust, Kuron began ramming into him quickly and without mercy. Adam’s back arched and he cried out, raking his nails down Kuron’s back. Strangled keens tumbled from his throat as his cock bobbed uselessly between them, untouched. Every thrust up was causing warm pleasure to course through his veins and right away, it was almost too much. 

“Yes, yes…” Kuron sighed from under him, “You feel so good around me, so good around my cock. You’re taking me so well, baby, so good…”

“Oh, god, Kuron…” Adam moaned out, rocking his hips back to meet Kuron’s thrusts up, “You’re so big…” 

The window’s of Kuron’s car were fogging up with the heat of sex, but Adam was certain that any person would be able to discern what was going on. After all, the sounds of pornographic sounding moans and the squelching sounds of Kuron’s dick slamming into Adam weren’t exactly quiet. 

“Hngh-AH!” Adam suddenly cried out, fireworks exploding behind his eyelids. Kuron had hit a place deep inside of him that made his entire body go rigid with pleasure, and by the look on his face, he knew it too. 

“I found it,” he whispered in Adam’s ear, pushing in impossibly deeper. Adam’s mouth fell open and his eyes went wide as Kuron began to pound into the spot even harder than he had been before. 

“Ku-Kuron!” he screamed, his nails scrabbling for purchase against Kuron’s back, “Oh my god, please! Please! Fuck, fuck, ah!” 

“I got you, baby,” Kuron groaned, the pistoning of his thrusts meeting Adam’s rockbacks head on, “Fuck, you’re so hot when you’re like this…” His lips moved to Adam’s neck and he began sucking marks on to his skin, laying his claim over him. Adam knew that when this was over, he’d wear Kuron’s marks proudly. 

“Oh, god…” Adam whimpered, his mouth going lax at the onslaught of pure pleasure, “Kuron, oh…” 

The slapping sounds of skin on skin, the feeling as though Kuron’s thick cock would split him open, the constant battering of abuse against his prostate...it was enough to drive Adam wild with lust and love for Kuron. 

“Kuron…” Adam whined, acutely feeling the fire in his belly and the ache in his thighs, “I think...I think I’m close…”

Kuron grunted and tightened his grip on Adam’s hips, increasing the speed of his thrusts. “Cum for me, baby.”

Those four words were all Adam needed before he came with an almost whorish moan, releasing all over his and Kuron’s chest. He immediately slumped against Kuron’s broad chest, trembling like a leaf in the wind. That orgasm was like nothing he had ever experienced before, he hadn’t fallen over the edge so much as catapulted headfirst. It felt like a fire in his veins, fireworks in his vision. He could hardly breathe, instead choosing to cling onto Kuron for a lifeline. He vaguely registered that Kuron’s cock was still in him, thrusting lazily. Well, if he was going to tell him, it was now or never. 

“Kuron,” he whispered, nuzzling into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck, “I...love you.” He wanted to say more, to express just how deep his love went, but there were no words on Earth that could adequately describe it. 

But to Adam’s horror, Kuron froze completely. His shoulders stiffened and the hold on his hips became painful. Shit, shit, shit. He’d totally screwed up. They had only been dating for less than a year, of course it was too early to say ‘I love you’. Adam was such an idiot, Kuron was going to leave him and hate him forever--

“What did you just say?” Kuron’s words were hushed and sounded as if they had been forced out. 

Adam lifted his head from Kuron’s shoulder, his heart going cold. “Kuron, I--”

“Say it again.” Kuron said through gritted teeth, pushing Adam back down on his still-hard cock, “Say it.”

Adam whimpered as his sensitive hole was forced to take Kuron’s cock down to the hilt once more. “Wait, Kuron, I just came--I’m s-so sensi--gah!”

Kuron had snapped his hips up with all his strength, causing Adam to moan like a washed-up porn star. “I won’t repeat myself, Adam,” Kuron growled, “Say it again.”

“I love you!” Adam screamed as Kuron began to fuck him even harder than he had the first time, “I love you...fuck, Kuron, I love you so much…” Adam felt like he was going to die, being fucked so soon after he had cum on Kuron’s cock. There was no way he would survive this. 

“I love you too, I love you so fucking much…” Kuron said, his voice thick with emotion despite the fact that he was currently fucking Adam within an inch of his life, “God, Adam, you’re so perfect...love you so much…”

Adam almost sobbed with relief upon hearing it. Kuron loved him. Kuron loved him. Kuron loved him. He loved Kuron. They loved each other. 

Without wasting another moment, Adam pulled Kuron in for a heavy kiss. It was messy and passionate and perfect and as Adam wrapped his arms around his lover’s neck, he found there was no place on Earth he’d rather be than in Kuron’s arms. 

Suddenly, Kuron broke the kiss, and Adam found himself almost whining at the loss. “Adam, I’m close…” Kuron gasped, “Can I...in you?”

Adam knew exactly what he meant and he nodded profusely, not caring how messy it would get. He had been waiting for this feeling for months now.

Kuron didn’t wait another second, finishing inside Adam with an aborted groan. It was warm and there was quite a lot of it, which only served to make Adam feel sexy as hell. It made him feel so fucking full, even more than with just Kuron’s dick.

Slowly, he lifted himself off of the already-softening dick and watched in avid fascination as the cum slowly dribbled out of him and slid down his thighs in rivulets of white. 

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Kuron said in a raspy voice, not being able to take his eyes off of it. 

Adam laughed softly and rotated his body so he was leaning against Kuron, shoulder to shoulder. The cum would stain the car seat, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “Hope you don’t have any STDs. I wasn’t even thinking about a condom.”

Kuron let out an indignant squawk. “O-Of course not! I would never--I have test results, you can see--”

Adam cut him off with a girlish giggle and a finger to his lips. “I was joking, babe.” 

Kuron let out a sigh and turned to flick Adam on the forehead. “You’re impossible.”

Adam chuckled and leaned over to kiss Kuron on the cheek. “Hey, that’s my line.”

Kuron laughed musically and wrapped his arm around Adam’s shoulder, holding him tight. “We should probably start heading back,” he murmured, “Your dad will kill me if you’re not back by curfew. He’ll think I’ve kidnapped you and forced you to be my sex slave or something.”

Adam smirked devilishly. He crawled onto Kuron’s lap and made a face like he was on an ahegao shirt. “Yes, daddy, make me your cum dump. Fuck me until I cry, daddy, please!” he moaned, rolling his eyes back into his head and sticking out his tongue. 

Kuron turned beet red. “Jesus, Adam, ten minutes ago you were hitting me because I was saying stuff like that to you.”

Adam grinned and flopped onto Kuron’s thigh. “Ten minutes ago, I didn’t know the feeling of your cum in my ass. Now, I’d say I’m pretty cool with anything.” 

Kuron groaned and pushed Adam off his lap, causing him to tumble onto the floor. “Hey!” 

After Kuron yanked Adam off the floor and they had a good laugh, they cleaned themselves up with cursory strokes of old wet wipes they found in the glove compartment, dressed in their now-rumpled clothing and hopped in the front seat. It was 11:46, less than fifteen minutes before Adam’s midnight curfew. Even though Kuron sped through the streets, laughing with Adam the entire time about how Adam’s father was going to kill them, they still arrived back at Adam’s house at 12:12 in the morning. The porch lights were still on, meaning that Adam’s parents were waiting up for him. 

“Shit…” Adam breathed, quickly opening the passenger side door and stepping out into the cool spring air, “My dad’s gonna kill me.”

Kuron opened his door and stepped out of the car as well, gazing at Adam with an expression he couldn’t quite place. “How about a good-night kiss before I send you off to be killed?”

Adam grinned and held his arms out. “Anything for you, darling.” 

Kuron returned the smile and vaulted the car hood, wasting no time scooping Adam up into a bruising kiss. “I love you,” he said once they’d parted, “I’ll see you tomorrow--”

Suddenly, he was cut off by the shrill sound of Kuron’s phone ringing in his pocket. Kuron grimaced and fished into his pocket, wincing visibly as he read the contact. 

“Who is it?” Adam asked, just the slightest bit of worry in his voice. 

Kuron didn’t answer, he simply clicked the “No Answer” button and then stuffed the device back in his pocket. “Just my father,” he said in a cold sort of voice. 

Adam could sense it wasn’t a topic Kuron wanted to share about, so he put an hand on Kuron’s arm and smiled warmly. “Goodnight, Kuron. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Kuron smiled at him and took his hand, kissing the top of his hand gently. “Goodnight, parting is such sorrow.” 

Adam rolled his eyes, but flushed red all the same. “You nerd.”

Kuron laughed and did a mock bow. “Only for you, my darling.” 

Adam’s heart warmed at the sight, but the sound of his front door opening made the blood freeze in his veins. Slowly, he turned, only to see his father staring directly at them, a look of fury on his face. 

“Adi!” he called, his hands shaking in rage, “You are late.” 

He stalked down the front steps, shaking his finger at the two of them. “Adi, you never used to be like this!” he yelled, his Portuguese accent coming in thick, “You were always a good boy, a good child. Until he came along!” He pointed his finger at Kuron who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Sir, I’m so sorry--” Kuron began. 

“No, you don’t speak!” Mr. Wright interrupted, “I know exactly who you are and what you’ve done.” He gestured vaguely to his eyepatch, “You’re no good for him!”

“Papai, please,” Adam said in a rather placating tone, “Please don’t do this now. Maman will be waiting for us, Papai, just please--” 

Mr. Wright simply waved Adam off. “Adi, this is--” Suddenly, his eyes zeroed in on a spot, a hickey, on Adam’s neck. Adam could practically feel the cogs turning his his father’s brain as he hurriedly covered it up, but it was too late. 

“Adi…” Mr. Wright whispered, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. “You let this…this monster defile you?” He spat the words as if they were venom. Adam gasped at his father’s crude choice of words. “Papai, don’t say that about Kuron! We...We…” His voice faltered.

“It’s alright, Adam.” 

Adam turned back to Kuron and his heart broke at the expression on his face. He looked devastated at the turn of events. Adam knew that though he had never voiced it, Kuron wanted Adam’s father’s approval, and that this was sure to cut deep into his heart. 

Kuron squared his shoulders and tried to make his expression neutral. “I’ll go now, sir. I won’t cause any more trouble. I’m truly sorry to have upset you.”

Mr. Wright scoffed and grabbed Adam’s arm, pulling him away from Kuron. “Don’t you come near my son again. I know exactly who you are. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Kuron nodded, turning his gaze to Adam. “I love you.” he said, “I’ll see you later, okay?

Mr. Wright let out an enraged sound. “Stay away from my family!” he hissed as a final warning, beginning to tug Adam into the house. Adam looked back at Kuron desperately, mouthing ‘I love you’. Kuron smiled grimly and held up a hand, then turning his back on him and going back to the driver’s seat of his car. The engine started quickly and he sped away into the night. 

“Adi!” his father yelled, yanking him inside the house and slamming the door, “What were you thinking going out with that boy? And to let him do those things to you!”

“Fausto, what’s wrong?” 

Both father and son turned to see a woman coming out of the kitchen wrapped in a pink bathrobe, rubbing her eyes. Adam’s mother. 

“The problem, Colette, is that our son has been romping around with a horrible, evil boy!” Mr. Wright snarled. 

Adam’s mother sighed and looked at him in disapproval. “Adam, is this true?”

Adam scoffed, yanking his arm free from his father’s grip. He could not believe this was happening. “Yes, but Kuron isn’t horrible and evil! Why do you hate him so much?! You’ve never had a problem with any of my other boyfriends before! So why now, why him?!”

Adam’s father turned a rather peculiar shade of red. “He is not a good person, Adi! I can feel it. He always whisks you away to places we do not know, does not get you home by curfew, and he...he…” He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but was silenced by a soft touch from his wife. “Fausto, dear, let’s all just calm down, alright? Adam is not going to listen to you if you be like this.” Mrs. Wright turned to Adam with a kind smile. “Just go to sleep, mon fils. We will discuss this more in the morning.” 

Adam huffed like a petulant child and nodded. “Fine.” He turned his heel on his parents and stalked upstairs to his room, slamming the door so hard a model rocket fell off a shelf onto the floor. After a cursory glance to make sure it wasn’t shattered, Adam flopped onto his bed and buried his face in his hands, trying to suppress a scream of frustration. His father was being ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. There was nothing evil or bad about Kuron, he would never even hurt a fly. He couldn’t see why his father hated him so, but he could also sense that there was something that his father wasn’t telling him. 

Sighing slowly, Adam stripped himself down to his boxers and pulled his comforter over himself. He’d shower in the morning, he just needed to go to sleep. The soft sounds of his parents talking eventually started to lull him to sleep, but as his eyes were about to close for the night, the sound of his door opening jerked him back. 

Groggily, he sat up and squinted at the light coming from the doorway and the figure standing there. “Papai…?” he muttered, rubbing his eye with his fist, “What…?”

Adam’s father’s face was grim, but even in the low light, Adam could see a hint of furious smugness in his eyes. “Your mother and I have agreed, Adi,” he said curtly, “That boy is no good for you. He has turned you into something that we never wanted you to be. Because of this, we have decided it is best for you to see him as little as possible. We will not change your school, but we will be contacting the administration to make sure your schedule is changed so you do not run into him.”

Adam sputtered, blindly reaching for his glasses in the dark before realizing he was still wearing them, despite having gone to sleep. “Papai, you can’t!” he protested, balling his fist in the blankets, “He’s done nothing to you or me or anyone in our family, so I don’t understand why you hate him so much! Tell me, goddammit!”

Mr. Wright looked slightly taken aback by his son’s rage, but his expression only hardened. “I am sorry you feel that way, but you are only a boy. Almost of age, yes, but until then, a boy. Do not talk about things you do not understand.” 

Adam felt his lip trembling and his eyes fill with tears. “You...I…” He took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he was about to say. “I love him, Papai!” he shouted, louder than he would’ve liked, “I love him. He loves me. We love each other. You can’t keep us apart, Papai, you just can’t!” 

Mr. Wright’s went almost comically wide at Adam’s declaration, but then, almost as fast, the look of fury settled on his face once again. “It does not matter, Adi. This is for your own good, your safety. Your mother and I love you very much, but we cannot allow this relationship to continue. Mark my words, Adi. You will never see him again. Not if I can help it.” 

Those final words made Adam’s strength finally gave out and he folded in on himself, allowing the tears to fall. “No!” he shrieked, lifting his head to stare at his father with fiery eyes, “If y-you...if you really cared a-about me, you wouldn’t...you wouldn’t do this!”

Mr. Wright said nothing. All he did was give his son one last sad look and quietly shut the door behind him as he walked out. 

Finally, Adam could be alone and mourn for himself. And mourn he did. He sobbed into his pillow, broken cries of ‘why?’ echoing around him. Why couldn’t anyone understand? Why was everyone trying to keep them apart? Kuron had done nothing wrong. Nothing. 

Realistically, he knew that tonight wouldn’t be the last time they ever saw each other. They’d still see each other in passing and could still text and FaceTime each other. Plus, there was always the option of sneaking out. But the finality of his father’s words made it certain, in no unclear terms, that his parents would do everything in their power to keep them apart. 

Adam sighed and rolled over so his back was to the door, his tears finally spent. Everything’ll be fine, he thought to himself, college is next year. Then, I can be with Kuron forever and no one can stop me. This is all just a setback. It’s not gonna kill our relationship. We’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. 

That thought gave him a small amount of comfort, enough so he could fall into a light, troubled sleep. 

However, unbeknownst to Adam, there was something else happening. Somewhere else, in the penthouse of the most high-end building in the city, a father and son were arguing. 

“I love him!” the son said, slamming his hands on a table, “You can’t keep me from him!”

The father only smiled. “Oh, no, Takashi. You underestimate me and what I will do.”

The son suppressed a frustrated shout. “I don’t care! I’ll walk away from everything, from the family business, from you! I just--” he held back a sob, “I need to be with him. I need him.” 

The father raised an eyebrow. “You’d walk away from Keith?”

The son grit his teeth. “He will understand.” 

The father shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “You won’t walk away. You couldn’t.”

An ugly parody of a laugh bubbled from the son’s throat. “Oh, really? Fucking watch me.” He started towards the door, but stopped short upon hearing the sound of a gun being unholstered. He whirled back, only to stare down the barrel of the pistol his father kept with him at all times. The father held an almost regretful look on his face. 

“What?” the son hissed, “You’ll kill me? Your heir?”

The father shook his head. “No, Takashi.” He lifted his eyes to meet his son’s. “I’ll kill him. The boy you love so dear. No mercy. No regrets.”

An icy sort of rage filled the son’s heart and he started towards his father, intent on making him pay for even threatening the love of his life like that. “You fucking--”

The father, without missing a beat, clicked the gun off safety. “You must understand, Takashi, that in this business there is no leaving. Sooner or later, some of our enemies would find you and bring the life you had built to the ground. Your precious boy would be tortured in ways you cannot even imagine before your very eyes, until your mind broke. I am only doing this for your own good.” A look of paternal concern filled his face and he lowered the gun slightly. “You are my son and I care about you very much. This was not done out of hatred or spite, but simply...a father’s love.”

The son balled his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. He could hardly even think, there was so much anger coursing through them. “Then I’ll stay,” he bit out, barely holding himself back, “But let me see him. I won’t tell him anything about you or me or the business. I’ll...keep lying to him. But I need to keep seeing him.” 

The father clucked and shook his head, sighing deeply. “You already know that is not an option. Your boy’s father knows too much. Suspects, I should say, too much. Sooner or later, something will come out and it will be the end for the family business. He knows me and by extension, knows you. I was there, in the explosion that cost him his eye, and he saw me. Looked right at my face.” The father’s face hardened once again. “And that is a risk I cannot ignore.”

The son opened his mouth to argue, but was silenced by a wave of his father’s hand. “I am sorry, son. But you will never see him again.” He took the gun off safety and set it on the table, his face conveying a dire warning. “Unless, of course, you want to see him at his funeral.” 

 

 

Sometime later, Adam woke up, squinting at the sunlight streaming through his window. Right away, he groped around for his phone and brought it up to his face once he did locate it. Disappointingly, there was no text from Kuron. Eh, whatever. He’d see him at school today. There was no way his schedule change had been processed yet, so he still had time to talk about what he would do. 

He showered, ate, ignored his parents, and ran out the door at lightning speed. All he wanted to see was Kuron, all he wanted was Kuron’s arms around him telling him that he would be okay. 

When he got to homeroom, Kuron wasn’t there. He wasn’t there when Mrs. Balmera called roll either. Adam rationalized it in his mind as Kuron oversleeping. Surely he would be here. But he wasn’t there in first, second, or third period either. By then, Adam had sent a whole boatload of texts asking where he was, all of them unread. All unanswered. 

Kuron wasn’t there the next day. Or the next, or the next. Adam had begun to grow slightly hysterical, being constantly on the verge of tears and glued to his phone, just in case Kuron contacted him. His father was practically beside himself with glee, but tried not to show it. 

“What did I tell you, Adi? No good.” Then he would shrug and say: “At least he isn’t around anymore.” 

The second week he was gone, Mrs. Balmera stopped calling his name during homeroom roll call. The third week, nobody mentioned his name anymore, except for trashy lunchroom gossip theorizing where he had gone. 

The fourth week, the bruises and love marks from their one night of passion had all gone completely. 

Adam cried.


	3. the future

When Adam awoke, it was dark. The first thing he realized was that he was no longer in the alleyway cradled in Shirogane’s arms and that he was lying in a large four-poster bed. The second thing he realized was that he must’ve been asleep for way longer than just a couple minutes. 

 

He bolted upright and his eyes darted around the room, paranoid that some assailant might be hidden, waiting for the right moment to end his life. A part of his brain told him that that was simply absurd, that Kuron would never hurt him, but he quickly squashed it down. Shirogane wasn’t the Kuron he knew. He never was. Everything he knew and loved was a complete lie and he’d be bluffing if he said it didn’t hurt so, so bad. 

 

To try and distract himself from the inevitable tears that would stem from a betrayal this deep, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, shivering at the cool air hitting his bare legs. 

 

Wait. 

 

Adam was practically stark-naked, save for his underwear. He hadn’t realized earlier, but he felt his cheeks heat up in shame. If he was naked, it must’ve meant somebody had taken his clothes off for him, because he sure as hell hadn’t done it himself. God, what if it was Shirogane? He hadn’t seen him naked since they had...had…

 

Adam buried his head in his hands and groaned audibly. Eight years ago, when they were eighteen, he had been begging for Shirogane. And now, now that they were both grown fucking adults, he couldn’t even--

 

“Oh, hey! You’re awake!” 

 

Adam tensed harshly and jerked his head almost painfully towards the voice. Thankfully, however, it was not Shirogane. It was a teenager, who looked around the same age as Keith. He was wearing a large, loose yellow shirt with a cargo vest over it and, strangely enough, an orange tie tied around his head. He was carrying what looked like a medical bag and smiling quite brightly and Adam immediately felt at ease in his presence, despite having never seen him before. 

 

“Who are you?” he croaked out, wincing internally at the raw quality to his voice, “Where am I?”

 

The boy’s smile grew wider, like there was nothing he’d rather do than be with Adam. “I’m Henare, but everyone around here calls me Hunk!” He briskly set his medical bag down and bustled over to the windowsill, pulling open the curtains as wide as they would go. Adam hissed like a vampire and squinted into the light, wondering if sunlight always looked this harsh. 

 

“Sorry,” Hunk chuckled good-naturedly, “I can’t check you up if it’s dark in here.”

 

Adam tilted his head. “You’re the doctor?” he asked skeptically, taking a note of the boy’s rather young age. 

 

“Well, uh…” Hunk smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, “Not technically.  _ Technically,  _ my girlfriend’s parents are the doctors here.  _ Technically,  _ me and her are just their apprentices.  _ Technically,  _ I’m a negotiator and unofficial chef. But, Shiro asked me to look you over, so I thought it’d be nice to meet the guy who’s got him so worked up.”

 

Adam furrowed his eyebrows and electively chose to ignore that last statement. “So where am I?” he said instead, crossing his arms. 

 

Hunk sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair, glancing back into the hallway. “I’m not sure if I have the authorization to tell you that,” he said nervously, “But you’re somewhere safe! I promise.”

 

Adam rubbed his temple in annoyance. Well, this was going absolutely swimmingly. “Why did.. _ he  _ bring me here?” 

 

“He wanted to protect you.” Hunk replied, almost worryingly fast, “He wanted to make sure he’d have a chance to explain why he...ya know…” 

 

Adam shook his head, balling his fists in the comforter. “And he told you that?”

 

Hunk shrugged. “Not exactly. I was in the car that came to pick you guys up and when you fell asleep and he decided it’d be best to bring you back here, he wouldn’t stop whispering to you how he was so sorry and how he’d always protect you from now on and how he’d explain everything. And then more about how sorry he was.”

 

Truth be told, Adam’s heart gave a small lurch. He wanted to believe that the love they had shared almost a decade ago was real and that the man he believed to be Kuron really did love him. But until he got more information, he had to repress it. 

 

He cleared his throat, hoping to stall the conversation before he went any further. “Okay, well, are you going to check me?” he said, rather crisply. 

 

Hunk’s eyes widened and he turned around, grabbing his medical bag. “Yeah, yeah! One checkup coming right up!” 

 

Well, at least it seemed like Hunk knew what he was doing. Despite the fact that he began prattling on about his life, probably to try and break the ice, Adam had to admit: the kid was good. Every touch and action was expert and he didn’t fumble with any equipment even once. In fact, he was so good that Adam found himself relaxing just the slightest bit, choosing to actually listen to Hunk’s life story. However, there was one tidbit that made Adam stop him in his tracks. Something that didn’t make sense.

 

“Wait, wait…” Adam interrupted, holding up his hand, “You said your family owns  _ Garrett’s Deli? _ ” 

 

Hunk nodded and smiled his megawatt smile. “Yeah! Have you been there?”

 

Adam shook his head slowly, trying to process. “No, it’s just...I thought I heard on the news that it had been robbed? By the Lions?”

 

Hunk then looked rather guilty, as if he was an elementary-schooler that had just spilled their best friend’s secret. “Oh, uh, yeah. Well…” he puffed out his cheeks, “I guess I can tell you about this now. My family’s deli has been in league with the Lions for a while. You know, providing them with food and a safe place in exchange for protection and stuff. A couple generations ago, my great-grandparents decided to be a bit more...proactive. They, uh, got more involved. They passed that relationship down to my grandparents, my parents, and then by extension, to me. The thing is, it’d look really weird if the deli was the only store in the whole city not getting robbed, right? So every four or five years, they stage a robbery so they seem like everyone else.” 

 

Adam was silent for a worryingly long time, processing what he had just heard. If  _ Garrett’s Deli  _ was in cahoots with the Lions, then who knows how many other businesses were also? Was his entire world a whole fucking lie? First Kuron, now the deli, what else would be tipped from its axis only to crash right into the ground and shatter?

 

“Your girlfriend...her parents...who are they?” he asked, sounding like he was trying not to cry, “What do they do?”

 

Hunk cocked his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows. “I just told you. Both of my girlfriend’s parents are doctors for the Lions. Well--” Hunk looked lost in thought now, “Actually, her mom is also a teacher. She wanted to do something different so she got her teaching license about ten years back and actually taught at GHS for a while. She still does some medical stuff, but teaching is her main thing now. Maybe you know her? Her name is Alda Balmera.”

 

Alda Balmera. Alda Balmera.  _ Mrs. Balmera.  _

 

Hunk was now rambling on about his girlfriend, someone named Kay or Jay or Ray or whatever, but Adam couldn’t bring himself to pay attention. His head felt like it had been submerged in water; he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t hear or see clearly, he couldn’t even fucking  _ think _ \--

 

“Hey, are you okay?” Hunk said in a concerned voice, stopping his medical work for a second.

 

No, Adam was not fucking okay. His homeroom teacher, her of all people, was a member of the Lions. She seemed like the sweetest and kindest woman in the world at the time, but none of it was real. Everything was a facade, nothing but a facade. 

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Adam said, forcing a small smile on to his face, “Just...thinking, is all.”

 

Hunk didn’t look the slightest bit convinced, but he stood up and snapped his bag shut anyway. “Okay, well, you’re all finished!” he said brightly, “There’s nothing major, just a few bruises and scrapes, but other than that, you’re good as new.” He started towards the door, but stopped just before he left the room. He turned back and gave Adam an encouraging smile. “I’ll let Shiro know you’re awake and that you’re okay.”

 

Adam’s heart skipped a beat and he opened his mouth to protest profusely, but Hunk had already shut the door and left. Left him to stew in his own feelings and wait for the inevitable. 

 

For their talk that they’d have to have. Where Shirogane, or the man he knew as Kuron would have to explain himself. 

 

Adam swung his legs back onto the bed and brought them up to his chest, curling up into a little ball. He rested his chin between his knees and stared at the door, conflicted about his feelings. 

 

He still loved Kuron, that much he knew, but he didn’t know if he could love Shirogane. Kuron was sweet and kind and all Adam could ask for, the perfect man; while Shirogane was bloodthirsty and cruel and manipulative. It should’ve been an easy decision, that he should run away as far from the man as possible. 

 

But it wasn’t that simple. No matter how amazing Kuron had been, he had still knowingly lied to Adam and set him up to get his heart broken, while Shirogane had come to his aid and brought him into his home, despite his dark reputation. 

 

It was hard to wrap his head around the concept that they were the same person, despite the fact that the lines between Kuron and Shirogane were getting blurrier and less clear. Where did Kuron end and Shirogane begin? Were they simply two sides of the same coin? 

 

Adam groaned softly, brokenly, rubbing his temple. All of this overthinking was giving him a headache and he had to stop it. Over-speculating wasn’t going to help anything, especially his mental state. All he could do was hear Shirogane’s explanation and then decide for himself what he wanted to do. 

 

“Adam…?”

 

Speak of the devil. Adam slowly lifted his head and set his gaze on the man himself, who was currently standing in the doorway and looking extremely uncomfortable. Adam hadn’t even heard the door open, but if it was a product of Shirogane’s mafia training or his own overthinking, he couldn’t say. 

 

“Shirogane.” he replied curtly, trying to make his face as stony as possible. 

 

Shirogane cringed visibly and gingerly stepped inside, shutting the door softly behind himself. “How are you feeling?” he asked in an impossibly soft voice. It made a tiny bit of Adam’s guard drop, and that only made him more upset. 

 

“Fine.” he said stiffly, blatantly refusing to look Shirogane in the eye. He wanted to say as little as possible for two main reasons. One, a small part of him wanted to punish Shirogane for abandoning him for eight years; make him suffer for what he did. But the other reason was that he was so afraid that if he said too much, he’d start blubbering like a baby and fall in Shirogane’s arms like a goddamn damsel in distress and forgive him for what he did--

 

You know what, it was better to just be silent. 

 

Shirogane looked a little sad at his short answer, but said nothing about it. Instead, he walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down, facing away from Adam. They both were silent for what seemed like hours, slowly allowing the tension to build between them. Adam could feel it suffocating him, but he refused to give in. If this was some sort of mafia tactic in order to get him to forgive all of Shirogane’s wrongdoings, it wouldn’t work. Stubbornly, he pursed his lips shut and let the silence drag on. 

 

Eventually, however, it seemed Shirogane couldn’t take it anymore and he turned back to Adam with an unreadable expression on his face. “Adam...I know you don’t want to hear this, but...I’m sorry, darling. For everything.”

 

Adam felt an odd tightness in his chest. “You already said that you were sorry and I don’t want to hear it anymore,” he said, probably too harshly, “I want answers.”

 

Shiro sighed and nodded, angling himself so he was facing Adam. “I’ll start from the beginning.” He took a deep breath and began to speak. 

 

“I’d been groomed to be the next leader of the Lions for a long time. My dad trained me, mostly, just like his dad trained him and my grandfather’s dad trained him. It’s always been that way in our family, at least according to Dad. Nobody’s ever strayed from their destined path, since there was only ever one option for them.” He was silent a moment and seemed to be contemplating something. “My family’s kind of strange that way. The Shiroganes only normally have one child to be prevent infighting for the throne and all that. But, Dad…” He let out a small laugh. “He was always been about doing things his own way, even though he always lectured me about how we had to keep the business going. When I was eight, Keith was born. We don’t have the same mom, but I never considered that. We were brothers right from the beginning. Right away, I knew I wanted to protect him from the life that Dad brought me up with. He didn’t have the last name of Shirogane, so I thought—“ 

 

“Wait,” Adam interrupted, holding up a hand, “What does any of this have to do with you leaving?” 

 

Shirogane gave him a sad smile. “I’m getting to it.” There was a small pause, then: “Dad had a habit of changing his legal name every few years. Thought it would make him harder to track, you know? He had someone in the courthouse, so there wasn’t much of hassle there. Of course, the family name is Shirogane and he always switches back to it sooner or later. When I was born, he was going by his given name, Heath Shirogane. But when Keith was born, he was going by Texas Kogane.” He chuckled. “It was the weirdest thing. He gave Keith the last name of Kogane and I thought that maybe Dad wanted one of us to have a chance at a normal life outside the business. I was a little kid, so I really believed it. As we got older, it was pretty clear that even though Dad had two potential heirs for the family business, he really only wanted me to become the heir. Maybe it’s because I was the firstborn or because I had the Shirogane name, but whenever he talked about his imminent death, he’d always talk about  _ me  _ taking over.” 

 

Shirogane ran his fingers through his two-toned hair, the expression on his face looking rather upset. Adam decided it would be best not to interrupt. 

 

“The thing is, I was never all gung-ho about taking over. I knew I’d have to eventually, but it never excited me or anything. It was different for Keith, though. He always talked about how he wanted to take over one day, even though he didn’t need to. It’s a strange thing for a little kid to talk about, but he’d ramble on and on to anyone who’d listen. Dad had put him in training from around the time he could walk, and I guess it’s all he ever knew. He just latched on to it.” Another pause, longer this time. “I...I guess I deluded myself into thinking that Keith would take over someday. That I wouldn’t have to and I could leave and everything would be fine. I was seventeen when I first brought up the topic of letting Keith take over. Dad went absolutely ballistic. He lectured me for hours about duty and honor and responsibility. He said that Keith was never meant to take over. I said that even though Keith was also a Shirogane, despite his last name, he still had the same training as I did and that when he was old enough, he could take over. Keith and I were raised the same, you know. And we both got to be pretty damn good at fighting and shooting and leading and all the stuff Dad wanted us to be good at. So I thought it really didn’t matter which of us became the new leader.” Shirogane’s face was dark as night by now. 

 

“So finally, he proposed a deal. He’d let me go to normal high school for one year and at the end, if I still wanted to leave, I could. Keith would be the leader and I could live my life outside the Lions. Obviously, I’d have to use a fake name, but I didn’t care.” He balled his hand into a fist. “I was an idiot. I should’ve known my father had something planned.”

 

Adam felt his heart leap up to his throat. Perhaps...Perhaps Kuron hadn’t left him by choice? Was that even possible?

 

“I agreed and after the deal, I thought I was invincible. I thought I had bested my father at his own game, but I was so wrong. That year…” Shirogane’s expression changed abruptly, turning from dark to light in a matter of seconds. He gazed at Adam with immeasurable love behind his eyes, and Adam felt his cheeks heat up.

 

“That year was the best of my entire life.” Shirogane continued in a murmur, not once taking his eyes off of Adam, “When I first saw you in that classroom, I thought to myself,  _ He’s the one.” _

 

Adam’s blush deepened and he looked away. “True love doesn’t exist.” he muttered, trying to calm the frantic beating of his heart. 

 

Shirogane simply smiled affectionately. “Then I was an exception.” 

 

Adam sputtered in embarrassment and batted Shirogane on the shoulder. “Just get on with it!” 

 

Shirogane chuckled. “Sure, darling.” The look on his face changed from ‘hopelessly in love’ to ‘slightly less hopelessly in love’. 

 

“I saw you sitting in that classroom, with your beautiful hair and your sparkling eyes, and I knew that I had to know you. I didn’t think that I’d ever measure up to your beauty, but I--”

 

“Hold on!” Adam cut him off, unable to hear Shirogane sing his praises any longer, “First off, what does any of this have to do with you abandoning me? Second, did you even really see me? I was a freaking mess, I had acne and old clothes and--” 

 

He cut himself off with a squeal as he was pulled into Shirogane’s arms and completely enveloped in his warmth. “Hey, wait! Let go of me, you lying, lousy--!”

 

“No.” Shirogane said simply, burying his nose into Adam’s neck and inhaling deeply, “I haven’t been able to see you for eight years. I know you’ve probably moved on, but I…” He sounded like he was close to tears, “I love you. I never stopped. You were beautiful then and you’re even more beautiful now. I won’t have you saying anything bad about yourself. You...You don’t have to reciprocate, but...at least give me this. Please.” 

 

Adam stopped his struggling, frozen in place. Shirogane...still loved him? Even after all these years? 

 

He felt his heart practically melt and the tears well up in his eyes, and that was all the proof he needed for himself. Fuck, he still loved Shirogane too. He had convinced himself years ago that he was over Kuron, that he didn’t love him anymore, but they were all lies. Godfuckingdammit, he still loved Kuron. He loved Shirogane. He loved them both, as the one man they were. Even though he had put him through hell, he never got over him. 

 

But the realization didn’t mean shit if the reason that Kuron left was shit. Adam wasn’t weak or helpless. If Kuron left for some superficial reason, he’d leave him too, even if it meant breaking his own heart a second time. 

 

“Just get on with the story…” he murmured, not being able to resist nuzzling into Shirogane’s warm chest just a little, “Then we’ll talk.”

 

Not being outright rejected seemed to be all Shirogane needed. “As you wish.”

 

There was a slightly pregnant pause and Adam thought for a second that Shirogane had fallen asleep. When he began speaking again, his words were slow and deliberate. 

 

“I wanted to be near you as often as I could. You radiate this...golden glow. It was like a drug for me, quite honestly. When we first started dating, I was over the moon. I knew for sure that I’d drop my old life, anything to be with you forever. I would’ve rather died than drag you into the Lions with me. But...what I didn’t know was that Dad had people following me.” His grip on Adam tightened protectively, “They reported back to him that your dad...knew mine. That he was suspicious of me. I look a lot like my father, so...it makes sense why.”

 

Adam’s brain was going a million miles a minute. Logically, he knew that if Shirogane’s father was the leader of the Lions, then that meant that he was involved in the explosion that cost his father his eye. Shit. It all made sense now. The reason why his father was suspicious and wanted to keep them apart. After all, Kuron  _ had  _ sort of showed up out of nowhere. And if he looked like his father, then…

 

“The last night we saw each other...my father told me I could never see you again, that it was too risky. He said that your dad knew too much and that it’d be too dangerous for the business. He threatened to…” Shirogane’s expression was unreadable, “He said he’d...kill you, if I left.” His next breath was shaking. “That was his plan all along. To get me attached to someone and use them as collateral. A thing to hold over my head so I’d never leave.”

 

Adam felt a chill run through him, as well as a streak of anger at Shirogane’s father. How dare he keep them apart through such horrible means? What kind of father would do that to his son? “S-So…” his voice was quivering, “If you had seen me again, he would’ve...killed me?” 

 

Shirogane nodded grimly, fire in his eyes. “Yes. And I...I couldn’t let that happen to you. I had to protect you...so...I had to let you go. To keep you safe. It was the last thing I wanted to do, Adam, please, you--you have to believe me.” 

 

Adam didn’t know what to think. Kuron really hadn’t abandoned him willingly. All these years, he had thought that the love of his life and just up and left for no good reason, but it really wasn’t that way at all. Shirogane...was only trying to protect him. 

 

“Once my father died, I--” Shirogane continued, “I wanted to find you so badly. But, I...I didn’t think you’d ever accept me again. I thought--” He sounded closer to tears now, “I thought you’d hate me, Adam, I thought-- _ mmph!”  _

 

Adam had taken a leap of faith. A crazy, stupid leap of faith. All the years of pining away for his lost love, all the times he spent sobbing, all the dates he had turned down, all the late nights he had spent crying out for him and only him...all of it had led to this moment. 

 

He had cut off Shirogane’s rambling with a passionate kiss, one he hoped conveyed all the longing he had felt over the past eight years. He twisted his body so he was straddling Shirogane’s lap, just like he had that night in the back of Kuron’s car. 

 

“Adam...darling, what--” Shirogane said breathlessly once Adam had broken the kiss, “I thought--”

 

Adam quieted him with a single finger to his lips. “You’re a fucking idiot,” he said bluntly, “But...you had your reasons. I know that now.” 

 

Shirogane’s expression could’ve powered a whole city with the brightness it gave off. “Oh, Adam...you have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that. I promise, I’ll never stop making it up to you--”

 

“Ah, ah…” Adam looked deep into Shirogane’s eyes, “This doesn’t mean I forgive you completely, you know. It’s gonna take a lot to get me to excuse this.” 

 

Shirogane brought his hands up to Adam’s and squeezed them, a new light filling his eyes. “I’ll do anything.”

 

At the sight of Shirogane’s earnest eyes, Adam finally smiled for the first time in a while. God, did he love this man. “Jesus,” he groaned, wrapping his arms around the other man’s neck, “You can start by taking your clothes off and fucking me so hard I won’t be able to walk tomorrow.” 

 

Shirogane’s eyes widened, and from his position on his lap, Adam could feel his dick twitch in interest. “Adam, you--you want me to--” 

 

Adam brought his hands up to Shirogane’s face. “Yes, Kuron,” he said firmly, “I--”

 

It was only then that he realized what he had said. His cheeks and neck turned an odd fuschia color and he looked away in shame. “I’m so sorry, I--”

 

He was interrupted by Shirogane’s lips on his, and immediately melted into the touch. He had wanted this for so long, whether he was even aware of it or not. 

 

“Takashi…” Shirogane breathed once he had pulled his lips off of Adam, “Call me Takashi...please…”

 

Adam smiled at the man he would now and forever know as Takashi, feeling an immense surge of happiness course through him. “Okay. Takashi, then.” 

  
  


Takashi’s grin grew ever wider and Adam was suddenly acutely aware he was almost completely naked. Swiftly, he pulled his hands from Takashi’s neck and covered himself as much as he could. Despite the fact that he had already bared himself whole to this man, it had still been eight years. Needless to say, they had a lot to make up for. 

 

Takashi frowned at him. “Adam, you don’t need to hide yourself,” he murmured, “I love you for you...all of you.” 

 

Adam’s flush deepened and he allowed his forehead to fall forward onto Takashi’s shoulder. “You can’t say stuff like that,” he muttered, knowing full well he was a hypocrite for saying it, seeing as how he had only recently realized he still loved Takashi too, “I still haven’t forgiven you yet.” 

 

Takashi chuckled, reaching up to card his hands through Adam’s hair. “We’ll see.” 

 

He leaned to his right and opened the drawer of the nightstand. He fished around for a while before pulling out a small bottle. He smirked devilishly, looking very much like his eighteen-year-old self. “Like I said, always prepared.” 

 

Adam lifted his head and his eyes widened. “Why do you have…? Have you…?” The thought of the love of his life being in bed with someone else these past eight years made his heart lurch in a horrible, jealous way. 

 

Takashi seemed to get with Adam was implying and he quickly shook his head. “No, nothing like that!” His face softened, then pinkened slightly. “No one...I could never betray you like that. I’ve loved you for the past eight years and a part of me wanted to believe that we were...you know, still dating. I couldn’t. This was just...for myself.”

 

Adam let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. “Oh…” 

 

Takashi’s ears were now a curious shade of red and he wasted no time in squirting some of the lube onto his hand, warming it between his fingers. His hand hovered above the waistband of Adam’s underwear. “Is this okay? Can I touch you?” he asked breathlessly, a slight tremble in his voice. 

 

Adam nodded jerkily, guiding his hand into his underwear. “Yes, yes…”

 

Oh god, Takashi’s hand on him was like heaven on Earth. He was stroking him with long, lazy strokes and Adam swore he saw stars every time Takashi’s thumb went over the tip of his slowly-hardening dick. 

 

“Oh god, Takashi…” he moaned softly, his hands coming to rest around Takashi’s neck once again. The man under him only laughed breathlessly and pried one of Adam’s hands from around his neck, leading it down to the bulge in his pants. 

 

“Here…” he said, a strain in his voice, “Touch...touch me…” 

 

Adam’s stomach gave a tiny flutter. A little part of his brain rejoiced at the fact that he was now actually worshipping Takashi’s dick like it deserved, but Adam squashed it down. 

 

With noticeably shaky hands, Adam undid the button of Takashi’s black jeans, then poured the remaining lube onto one of his hands. He reached into his underwear and took Takashi’s dick firmly in his hand. 

 

Jesus, was it big. Had it grown since the last time it had been inside him? Was that even possible? 

 

Takashi seemed to notice Adam’s stillness and stopped stroking him, causing a small, helpless noise to escape his mouth. 

 

“Don’t tell me you’re in big-dick-shock again.” Takashi teased, his shit-eating grin rivaling that of a pretentious elementary schooler. Adam felt his face grow hot. “Shut up…” 

 

The man only laughed once more and resumed his handjob. Adam stifled a moan, but got to work on the quickly-hardening cock in front of him, rubbing it up in down in fluid motions. 

 

Soon, they were both panting with pleasure, the occasional soft moan escaping. Adam felt his head go foggy and he knew he was close. 

 

“T-Takashi...I’m... _ oh…” _

 

Adam spilled into Takashi’s hand, leaning forward and onto his shoulder. He was shaking slightly with the force of his orgasm, but he continued to move his hand, hoping to bring Takashi to release as well. He was a little bit sad when the man under him removed his hand with a slight grimace. “No…” he groaned, “I need...to be hard when I’m...in you…”

 

Adam felt his hole clench in anticipation. The part of his brain he had dubbed  _ Thirsty Adam  _ was practically throwing a party in his brain; he had wanted this for so long. 

 

Suddenly, he felt himself being shifted, then airborne. He yelped and instinctively wrapped his legs around Takashi’s waist as he was carried to the opposite end of the room. “Takashi, where are we--” He cut himself off with a soft grunt as he was thrust against the wall. “What--”

 

“Always wanted to try this.” Takashi said roughly, holding Adam up with one hand pulling down his pants with the other. 

 

_ Thirsty Adam  _ was tap dancing with glee now. 

 

“R-Really?” Adam murmured, thoroughly embarrassed and a little pleased, “Oh…” 

 

He was distracted from that particular thought at the sight of Takashi’s cock finally being freed. It was just as big, if not even bigger than he remembered, and he blinked quickly in order to prevent himself from going into dick-shock again. 

 

“How do you want it?” Takashi murmured in his ear, “I’ll do anything you want.”

 

Adam thought about it for only a moment before he found himself saying: “Rough. I...I want to feel you, pounding me until...until I’m begging you to stop. I want to feel the ache tomorrow. P-Please...Takashi…”

 

Takashi groaned at his answer and shifted Adam so he was in a more desirable position( _ Thirsty Adam  _ noted that Takashi seemingly had no trouble holding him to the wall, something that made all the blood flow to Adam’s nether regions). 

 

He made quick work of fingering Adam to readiness, although still taking the time to make him squirm. Once he had pulled his fingers out, Adam was about ready to fall on his knees and beg for Takashi’s cock in him, but there was no need. Quickly, Takashi pulled Adam’s underwear to his thighs, just as much in a rush as Adam was. And then,  without warning, he pushed into him, groaning into his ear. 

 

Adam hissed at the pain that he had not felt for eight years, but he welcomed it. The pain was proof that Takashi was here with him, and not some slightly painful distant memory. Surprisingly, he found himself craving more of it. He was going to have to have a serious talk with  _ Thirsty Adam  _ when this was all over. 

 

Takashi snapped his hips up suddenly, and all rational thought began to leave Adam’s head. He moaned loudly, digging his fingers into Takashi’s shoulders. That only served to spur him on more and he began to pound roughly into Adam, not even giving Adam time to adjust. Well, Adam  _ had  _ said he wanted it rough. 

 

Adam practically wailed at the feeling of Takashi’s dick in him, raking his nails down the other man’s back in his pleasure. Everything was too much; he could practically feel each vein as they rubbed his sensitive walls, he could feel Takashi’s warm breath on his shoulder, he could feel his own tears of happiness running down his cheeks...

 

Takashi was unmerciful and Adam was glad for it. Each thrust sent waves of pleasure and a hint of pain coursing through him. Takashi’s grip on his thighs was unwavering and Adam was grotesquely pleased that they would surely bruise. His back would probably have some sort of friction burn from the rough way he was being treated, but he couldn’t find it within himself to care. Any and all proof that Takashi was still here and still wanted him, he welcome with open arms. He had wanted this for so long, so long…

 

“Adam…” Takashi moaned, his iron grip on Adam’s thighs tightening, “I’m...I’m close...can I? 

 

Adam knew exactly what he meant and he gave a fervent nod. “Yes, yes...Takashi, please...in me, please!”

 

Takashi wasted no time, cumming in Adam with a moan. Adam, for the first time in a long while, felt sated and full and happy. He was a mess, he had dried cum on his chest, cum leaking out of his ass as Takashi pulled out, and he was sweating and panting like he had just run a marathon. But at that moment, there was no place he’d rather be. 

 

“Adam?” 

 

Takashi’s uncertain voice snapped him from his thoughts. “Adam, are you okay?” 

 

Adam nodded and smiled, pulling Takashi’s forehead to his. “I love you, you giant fucking goof.”

Takashi’s face went slack for just a moment before he burst into tears. “God, Adam...I love you too.” He began kissing all over Adam’s face. “I love you so damn much…” 

 

Adam found himself laughing and pulled Takashi’s lips to his, claiming them in a passionate and bruising kiss. 

 

And in that moment, somehow, someway, he knew that they’d be alright. 

 

_ TWO YEARS LATER _

 

“Takashi, the dinner’s ready! Come help set up!” Adam’s voice rang throughout their large kitchen, “Keith and Lance will be here any minute!” 

 

“Coming!” Takashi’s voice was close and Adam allowed himself to turn his back on his food for a minute to see his husband come through the kitchen door, a sight he never tired of. 

 

He and Takashi had married only four months ago, but his love only grew every day. In the beginning of the restart of their tentative new relationship, they had rough patches. There were even some days where Adam thought that they wouldn’t make it, but they had prevailed through every hardship and now, after eight years of being apart, nothing could separate them. 

 

He looked at his silver engagement ring glinting in the light and smiled fondly as Takashi came through the door. However, his smile quickly turned to a frown. 

 

“Takashi, what have I said about tracking blood onto my nice floor?” 

 

Takashi slowly looked down at his feet, where several drops of blood were dripping off of his boots onto the white kitchen tile. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his neck. “Sorry, darling…” 

 

It had taken Adam a very long time to accept Takashi’s place as the head of an underground criminal organization. He didn’t like the fact that they preyed on innocent people and one of the very first things he told Takashi was that if they were going to make the relationship work, the Lions would need to stop preying on innocent people and businesses. Takashi had agreed, and in the end, it turned out to be a good move. Their power only grew as they expanded into other areas to make up for it, and the Lions’ reach was expanding by the day. Adam still hadn’t told his family about Takashi, but they’d solve that problem another day. 

 

Adam sighed at his husband and tossed him a rag and a smile. “Clean it up, babe. We want to make a good impression on Keith’s boyfriend.” 

 

Takashi’s face grew slightly red. “Uh...they’re already here?” 

 

Adam felt himself have a mini heart attack. “Already here?! Why didn’t you tell me? Oh, I still haven’t decided whether we’re going to use the nice china or the  _ really  _ nice china--” 

 

Takashi laughed fondly and cut Adam’s rambling off with a quick peck to the lips. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be fine.” 

 

“But--”

 

Takashi shushed him. “No buts, sweetie. I’ll call them in.” 

 

They regretfully split apart and Adam then focused on getting out the plates(he had decided on the  _ really  _ nice china) and setting out the dishes. 

 

He had made all of their favorites, Takashi’s  _ tonkatsu _ , Keith’s  _ bulgogi  _ and  _ miso  _ soup, and his own  _ moqueca baiana _ . For dessert, he had made his mother’s  _ shrikhand.  _

 

He hoped it would be enough. 

 

He heard the door open and he turned his head with his friendliest smile towards the group. “Hi, guys! Dinner’s ready!” 

 

Keith smiled gratefully at Adam, and he gently tugged who Adam presumed to be Lance forward a bit. “Lance, meet my brother Shiro and his husband Adam. Shiro, Adam, meet my boyfriend, Lance.” 

 

Lance smiled and greeted them, but Adam could sense the nervousness behind his voice. Especially since Takashi looked very much like the crime boss he was, the way he was staring at Lance rather judgementally. 

 

“Takashi, calm down,” Adam hissed as they sat down to eat, “Keith can handle himself.” 

Takashi only grunted and he picked up his chopsticks to get some  _ tonkatsu,  _ his “big-brother-mode” shining through. 

 

It was awkward for several minutes, the only sound being the clinking of forks and chopsticks and the occasional slurp of someone sipping their water. Keith kept shooting alternative nervous and defiant glances at Takashi, while Lance kept his head buried low in his  _ miso.  _

 

Finally, Adam was about to say something to break the silence, when something caught the corner of his eye. Keith was slowly sliding his dagger onto the corner of the table, clearly having forgot to put it away before he sat down. 

 

“Keith.” Adam said in his most maternal voice, breaking the silence, “No weapons on the dinner table.” 

 

All sound ceased for several seconds as everyone lifted their head to stare at Adam. Then, as if on cue, they all broke out into uproarious laughter. From there, the conversation flowed naturally. Lance seemed to become his true personality, outgoing and boisterous, gesticulating a lot and entertaining Adam with stories of his high school exploits. Keith put in a sly comment from time to time, which only served to make the whole atmosphere lighter. 

 

Finally, after all the dishes had been polished off and dessert had been served, Lance and Keith were gearing up to head back to Lance’s place. Adam and Takashi watched them go with fondness in their eyes. 

 

“He’s a good kid,” Takashi said after the couple had walked out of sight of their window, “Keith seems to really like him.”

 

Adam nodded and smiled gently, turning to his husband. “He’s growing up, isn’t he?” 

 

Takashi snorted. “Adam, he’s been a legal adult for two years now.” 

 

Adam harrumphed and swatted his husband on the shoulder, although the corner of his mouth had upturned. “He’ll always be like a son to me.” 

 

Takashi chuckled and swept Adam up into his arms, kissing his neck playfully. “Well, seeing as we’ll have the place to ourselves for the night...why don’t we watch a movie and then have a little fun?”

 

Adam grinned, his heart overflowing with love for this man. “Takashi, I’d love nothing more.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING THIS!!!!! i love you guys
> 
> (please leave comments this took me like a month and a half to write)

**Author's Note:**

> wHEW thanks for reading!! leave comments if you enjoyed it!!
> 
> (please leave comments i'm dying over here)


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